Nothing to Lose
by mindcaster15
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki had nothing to lose. That is, until Hinata Hyuuga came along. Highschool fic.
1. A Rainy Night and a Story

**I do not own Naruto. I hope you like it….**

Hana anxiously drummed her fingers. Her mother-Hanabi- raised an eyebrow at her daughter.

"A Little excited?" She asked. Hana shook her head. "Sorry mama, its just that I've never spent the night at Aunt Hinata's before." Hana's pale eyes jumped from tree to tree as she stared out of the car window. Her mother patted her six year old head.

"Don't be silly, you see Aunt Hinata all the time, what makes you think that just because your spending the night makes it any different?" Hana shrugged. It was scary, she thought. She didn't want her mother to know but she was actually more scared of being away from home then her Aunt. Aunt Hinata wasn't scary at all. She was very nice and easy-although a little shy. Her aunt though, was also a little mysterious. She figured it was because she liked her privacy.

"Mama…" Hana was reluctant to ask her mother this question. It seemed a little like prying into her aunts life but she couldn't help it. Uncle Neji had only given broken bits and pieces, making Hana all the more curious.

Uncle Neji wasn't really her uncle, he was her second cousin. But since he was around the family so much it was just easier to call him "Uncle Neji."

"Yes sweetie?" Hanabi asked.

"Why did Aunt Hinata never marry?"

Hanabi sighed. She looked a little sad and a little reluctant.

"I don't actually know the whole story sweetie. I was just a little girl back then. If you really want to know then why don't you ask Hinata?"

Hana nearly fainted. "Are you insane? That's, that's, I cant do it!" She looked out the window again. Her mother laughed.

"She's not going to be mad at you!"

"Then how come you never asked?" Hana shot back. She may have only been six years old but she was smart.

"Oh," Hanabi sighed. "Its hard to explain. She likes you a lot, Hana, I think she would tell you."

"She likes you too!" Hana protested. Hanabi shook her head. "Yes she does but its different this way. I think she would be more open with telling you."

Hana groaned. "I should just ask Uncle Neji. He knows the story."

Hanabi gave her daughter a grin. "But Uncle Neji wasn't there first hand, he didn't have Hinata's emotions. If you _really_ want to know what happened you should ask Hinata."

Hanabi pulled into the drive way of Hinata's house. Hana stepped out of the car and grabbed her bags. She was small, after all she was only six, but had insisted on taking her bags herself.

Hinata stepped out of the porch and started to help Hana.

"Hi, Hinata, thanks for taking her." Hanabi muttered tiredly. Hinata gave her sister a smile.

"It was my pleasure." She replied in a soft voice. Hana hugged her aunt.

"We're going to have a whole lot of fun!" she giggled. Hinata smiled. "Yes we will." She led Hana inside.

Hana said good bye to her mother and that's how her day began.

It ended with it pouring rain. The electricity was out, no computer no lights no tv. Hana couldn't read with no light. She had nothing to do.

Aunt Hinata lit some candles and muttered apologetically, "I'm sorry Hana. I didn't know it would rain."

Hana shook her head. "It's fine. Its not like you could read the weather or anything."

Hinata smiled. "Well surely we can find something for you to do."

Hana perked up. "How about a story?" She asked. Hinata shrugged.

"I don't know…I'm not very good with stories." Hana looked down, deflated.

"But…I guess I could tell you a real one."

Hana perked up instantly. "Really? What kind?"

Hinata blushed. "Oh…you can choose I guess."

Hana blurted out, "The reason why you never got married!"

She instantly regretted saying it. Her aunt would probably clam up now. But instead Hinata just shrugged and said, "Well I suppose."

Hana blinked. This was it! This was the reason!

"Was it because you never fell in love?" she asked. Hinata chuckled.

"Oh no, I fell in love."

"Did he leave you?" Hana asked sadly. Her own father had left her and her mother so maybe that was what happened to Aunt Hinata.

"Well I suppose in a way he did." Hinata paused. "Why don't we start at the very beginning…"

Hinata Hyuuga didn't think she had seen him before that day- though she couldn't be sure. He had spiky blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes that laughed.

And he walked right out in the middle of traffic. Cars honked, people yelled, breaks were slammed. He never flinched. He just kept walking to wherever he was going, as if he had a purpose that nobody could match.

And for some unspeakable reason Hinata Hyuuga felt curious about him ever since.

The final bell rang and Hinata began to pack up. Thank god the school day was over. If she heard one more lecture about the pointless things they fed her brain she thought she might explode.

She quietly exited the classroom with a good bye to her sensei anyway. This teacher wasn't so bad, she thought, it was the subject itself that was boring.

Kurenai-sensei smiled at Hinata. She was a friendly woman with dark hair and a weird fashion sense. But all in all she cared about her students and wanted them to have a good high school year. Mostly for her own benefit of sanity, but still, she was trying right?

Hintata searched through the throngs of people for her cousin, Neji. He was the one who drove her home after school. She had a license but Neji owned the car so it was his call. And naturally he wanted to drive it.

She spotted his raven hair and pale eyes- much like her own, talking to his friend Lee. She had never really been able to get over the fact that her cold, unfriendly cousin, got along with…well his total opposite like Lee.

"Hello Hinata!" Lee said in his nerdy but enthusiastic voice. Hinata blushed and muttered, "H-h- hello…Leigh…" She frowned. She hated herself for the fact that she couldn't even say hello to a guy who she had known for quite a while. She could hardly say hello to anyone without stuttering.

Neji gave her an apologetic look. She knew what it meant to. "I'm sorry Hinata I have to stay after school today, I cant give you a ride." Although he said it politely he didn't look sorry. But his eyes were, so Hinata knew he didn't do it on purpose. Neji was cold, but he wasn't heartless.

"That's okay. I'll walk." Hinata said softly. She turned quickly and began to start toward the sidewalk. She stared at the ground, as she walked. She hardly ever looked up from the ground, it was a habit that needed breaking.

She slammed into something. No, she corrected herself, somebody. She looked up and immediately turned all red.

It was the boy who had walked into traffic several weeks ago. He grinned and said, "Wow sorry! I didn't see you there!" He grinned at her.

"N-n- no I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She squeaked. He just shook his head. "Nah, really it was me." He helped her up and she hoped that she wasn't blushing again. Though she probably was.

"I can give you a ride, you know, to compensate for pushing you down and all." He said cheerily. She blinked.

"Well I'm not really supposed to take rides from strangers."

"Yeah, your probably right! You wouldn't want to get kidnapped! But seriously, I want to make it up to you."

Hinata didn't know what to say. Fortunately he took her silence for a yes.

"Alright! I'll think of something…what's your name again?"

"Hinata."

"Yup. I'm Naruto by the way."

And that was how they met.

**Crazy Naruto bumping into poor Hinata! Anyway please R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	2. The Boy Who Walked in Traffic

**I do not own Naruto. Otherwise I have nothing to say…oh. Sorry the last chapter had no separating lines….**

**TTT**

Hinata pretended to be listening to her fathers lecture. It was always the same-there was never anything different about it. If you heard it once, you knew the way it went. And Hinata had been on the receiving end of this particular lecture more times then she could count.

"You need to try a little harder, Hinata. Look at Neji. He's a hardworking young man. He has a very successful life ahead of him."

Hinata refrained from mentioning that Neji hated her father. It really didn't matter to him, she thought. He just wanted her to be more like him.

And try as she might, Hinata Hyuuga wasn't Neji. She had given up that fantasy long ago. Pleasing her father was just another one of those things that she tried hard not to think about.

Glancing at her father she realized that his long and droning speech was over. She nodded and turned away from the table. What had set her father off in the first place was her grade inside of PE.

It wasn't that she couldn't run, it was that she couldn't for long periods of time. If only her father understood that…

It would help if she could make friends a little easier. Speaking to people wasn't a talent that she was gifted with. But she knew that if she ever did have a friend, she would be very loyal. She just knew herself, and because of that she knew that if a friend were to come along she would be the most loyal friend they ever had.

Too bad she didn't have any.

TTT

At the end of the next day while Hinata shoved text books into her locker, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She screamed and whirled, instantly embarrassed by her overreaction. She blushed instantly upon seeing the one she had screamed at.

Naruto stood, a grey t-shirt and a orange jacket. He grinned at her as if he thought her overreaction was funny instead of embarrassing. He laced his fingers behind his head, ruffling his spiky blonde hair.

"Wow, You've got a real set of lungs!"

Hinata blushed even redder, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. It was as if everything was perfect in his universe.

_I wonder what he's hiding behind that happy go-lucky face of his._ Hinata mused to herself. Although she was sure that he was probably happy by nature, he couldn't be _that _happy. Or could he?

He was talking, so Hinata turned her attention toward him.

"Yep, so I think I know a way to pay you back." He rambled.

Hinata blinked. He was serious about making it up too her? He only bumped her-and besides it was more like she bumped him anyway. It really wasn't worth all that trouble.

"Oh, Naruto you really shouldn't-" but he wasn't listening.

"I'm treating you to ramen! At Ichiraku's! Have you eaten there before?"

Hinata shrugged. He looked excited, and besides it would be nice to have a friend to eat with. Who knew? Maybe Naruto would be the friend she had always longed for. wouldn't it be nice, if she finally had someone to hang out with on weekends? To text if she ever got bored?

Hinata finally nodded. "T-thanks Naruto. What time?"

He frowned as he considered the question.

"Lets see. How about thirty after school?" She grinned and gave him a thumbs up. He nodded and yelled, "Later Hinata!"

She winced at his volume, _and she was the one with the lungs?_ But…it fit him. And she was happy that he had the confidence that she didn't.

TTT

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently. He was going to be late for ramen with Hinata. Why couldn't Kakashi-sensei hurry it up?

Kakashi was what Naruto guess, was his counselor. Yeah, that was a good word for it. He just needed to tell Kakashi that he was moving they're session to tomorrow. They'd talk later, and maybe Gaara would be there.

But Kakashi was late, but that wasn't new. That was why he had added an extra ten minutes to the time that he was going to meet with Hinata.

Kakashi finally stepped through the door and glanced at Naruto.

"I've been told that you have plans tonight. Are you rescheduling?" Kakashi's face remained the laid back and could care look on his face.

"Yeah. Is tomorrow the same time open?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Probably."

"Gee thanks for checking." Naruto muttered sarcastically. He stood up from his chair and gave Kakashi a pointed look, "If I show up tomorrow and you say that you can't do that because your with someone, I'm going to throttle you."

Kakashi gave him that eye smile that he had mastered long ago. He nodded absently. Naruto rolled his eyes and started for the ramen shop.

Although he had both a car and license, Naruto preferred to walk. Walking was good exercise and it gave him time to think.

And lately, he just couldn't _stop_ thinking. About everything. About all the depressing random things but also whether or not he was doing the right thing.

Making a new friend, it could prove to be dangerous, when you looked at it the right way. Once she learned, Hinata might back off. Though she didn't seem the type…

Naruto was jolted back into reality as a car honked and braked just inches before smashing his body into next week. The person screamed and raged. Naruto just grinned and yelled to them, "Wow that was close, huh?"

The person looked dumbfounded as Naruto walked on. He looked up to see Hinata, staring at him. She was waiting at the entrance of the ramen shop.

She had pale lilac eyes and the darkest raven hair he had ever seen. If you didn't know her, you would never guess that she was one of the shyest girls Naruto had ever met.

"N-n-Naruto!" She exclaimed. Naruto blinked in dismay.

"Yeah I know, I'm totally sorry that I'm late."

She shook her head. "Its not that! You need to be more careful, you almost got killed!"

Naruto looked into her sincere face. How could he tell her? He had nothing to lose, even his life was irrelevant. He knew no people that needed him, certainly not the world. Naruto was meaningless. As was his life.

It wouldn't matter if he had sidestepped that car, because his death was sooner then anyone else realized.

TTT

Hinata couldn't help but smile at Naruto's eating antics. He happily slurped his ramen and gave her a slice of watermelon sized grin.

"You enjoy it?"

Hinata nodded. Naruto hadn't been lying when he said that Ichiraku ramen was good. No scratch that, it was the _best_ ramen she had ever had the pleasure of eating.

Naruto scratched his head. "I need to get home. I'm having trouble in science and this homework needs to get finished."

Hinata frowned. She was very good at science..maybe she could…

"U-uh, Naruto I could help you with your science if you want." She nervously squished her fingers together. What was she doing? Paying him back, she decided, for being the only person on this planet that had ever asked her for ramen.

Naruto's eyes clicked on hers for a second, before releasing her from those dancing blue pools. He gave her a small smile, not nearly as huge as what he usually had.

"You sure?"

"Yes! It could be fun!" Hinata insisted. Naruto looked a little taken aback.

"Yeah. I guess." He looked out the window absently. She blushed.

"If you don't want too then you don't have too, I was only asking-" before she could finish he was shaking his head.

"No, its not that. It's just…never mind. When do you want to meet?"

Hinata smiled. "How about after school in the library?" Naruto gave a short nod.

Sensing that something was wrong, Hinata squeaked, "Did I say something?"

Naruto shook his head. "Have you ever had the feeling that if you were to, I don't know, die or something- that nobody would be there to miss you?"

It was Hinata's turn to stare out her window. She was silent a moment before answering. "Yes. I have had that feeling. But not very often. Usually just when my father is upset with me."

Naruto nodded. "I'll see you after school tomorrow!" He yelled, and hopped of his booth. He made a mental note that he would probably need to drive, just in case Hinata didn't want to walk.

He glanced back a moment, and watched her form disappear, before walking into the oncoming traffic.

TTT

**Please R&R!! I'm quite open to suggestions, though I cant promise that they'll come true.**


	3. Keeping the Sunshine

**I do not own Naruto. Sorry it took me so long to update…**

**TTT**

As Hinata waited in the library for Naruto, she absently scribbled on notebook paper. Stupid teachers giving her their stupid abundance of homework…she sighed. Turning away from the paper and glanced at her list of names for those running for student council.

She knew a few by popularity but some not so much.

1. Sasuke Uchiha- ah yes, she had heard about the mysterious Uchiha boy. She had never actually seen him but everyone knew who he was regardless if they had actually seen with his own eyes. Girls fawned over him and said they were "in love." Hinata rolled her eyeballs at the ridiculousness of it all.

She skipped over a few people she didn't know until her eyes rested on another that she recognized.

9. Rock Lee- Well, well. Lee was running for student council? She smiled as she envisioned the quirky boy running around handing out buttons for his campaign. She wondered if Neji knew. And also how much this election meant to Lee. She hoped he wouldn't get crushed if he didn't make it.

11. Ino Yamanaka- Hinata blinked. She guessed now that she thought about it, Ino being in student council would make sense. Though she doubted that Ino was on it because of the betterment of the school. More likely it was because Sasuke was (most likely) going to become student council president.

Hinata sighed. She didn't think that people should run for student council over crushes. It all seemed so petty and silly. She suddenly felt weighed down by all the weight that came with school. People teasing and taunting and gossiping… she had to snap out of it.

SLAM! Hinata gave another scream as Naruto banged his books on the table. He covered his ears. Hinata blushed and muttered "I-I-I'm sorry, I r-r-really didn't mean to, um" Naruto saved her from anymore explanations. He shook his head and laughed.

"No, that's fine. Sorry I scared you."

Hinata blushed. "So what unit are you guys on in science?"

"Chemical equations. They shouldn't be this hard!" Naruto growled in frustration. Hinata nodded.

"Let me take a look at them."

Hinata examined the papers. She frowned with concentration, then a pleased look settled upon her face.

"I see your problem. Your aiming too high. What you need is to used lower coefficients so that…"

It took around twenty minutes, but Naruto finally caught on. When he finally did his first equation right, he began to jump up and down whooping. They received a stern look from the librarian, but Hinata could see that she had been listening and didn't mind that much.

They parted ways, Hinata feeling more accomplished for that day.

TTT

"If you wouldn't mind casting your vote during the day for student council, then please do so during passing period."

The voice on the intercom was smooth. Hinata marveled at the fact that people could talk so easily- unlike her own stuttering voice. How come she was so shy? It was a curse, she decided.

She paused as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She expected it to be a teacher but instead upon turning around, saw Sakura.

The pinkette had large green eyes and was wearing red. She gave Hinata a friendly smile, and said "I was gone yesterday, do you mind giving me the pages for our math homework?"

Hinata nodded. "S-sure Sakura." She flipped around in her own book.

"Pages 148-149, evens." Sakura nodded her thanks.

"Later Hinata." She called, waving behind her as she backtracked toward class.

Hinata watched her for a while. Sakura had always been nice to her, never mean or anything. But they had never grown close. When they were little, Hinata would sometimes join Sakura with Ino, but things changed. Ino and Sakura grew apart for whatever reason and Hinata hadn't been important enough to think of.

Ino had also been friends with that kid- Sai- before she had grown into popularity. She sometimes wondered about Sai. Although she didn't know him very well she felt that he was…strange. And…unfeeling.

She shrugged. Surely he had emotions…they were probably just buried deep within him.

TTT

Naruto was reclining on the couch in Kakashi's office. Gaara sat in a chair near the right of him, flipping through some homework.

Kakashi entered the room, late of course.

"So you decided to show up?" Naruto asked. Kakashi gave him an eye smile.

"I was busy. It was very nice of the two of you to wait on me." Kakashi replied pleasantly. Gaara looked on with interest.

"So, what are we talking about today?" Kakashi inquired, plopping down on the green recliner. Although most of the things in his office his clients could touch, it was clear from the very beginning that the green recliner was Kakashi's and Kakashi's only.

"What _is_ there to talk about?" Naruto muttered. "I mean, what are we really supposed to say?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I really don't care. If you don't want to talk then I could always read…" His eyes slid to the book on his desk. Next in the Make out series.

"Oh no you don't!" Exclaimed Naruto. "If we're paying you for your time, the least you could do is attempt to talk!"

Kakashi mournfully tore his gaze from the book.

"Very well. What does the doctor say?" He directed his question to Gaara.

"They still don't know. Its only "one tail" so…" He shrugged. Naruto finished for him. "So you have longer."

Gaara nodded. Kakashi returned his gaze to Naruto. "How does this make you feel?" Naruto smiled.

"I guess you want me to say, jealous, or something like that. But actually I feel happy."

Gaara shot Naruto an appreciative look. Kakashi studied them. The two were very unlikely friends. And yet…Naruto was the only one that Gaara let become friends. The two had actually fought each other at first…then afterwards had become friends. Kakashi didn't know the details, and he had never asked.

"And you?" he asked Gaara. "How do you feel?"

Gaara looked surprised a moment, but recovered. "I'm not sure." He finally replied in his raspy voice.

Kakashi nodded. He had been expecting that.

"So anyway," Naruto finally broke the silence. "Lets do something non depressing. Heck, lets play uno."

Gaara shrugged, sitting on the floor. Kakashi rolled his one eyeball and got out the cards.

The session ended this way.

TTT

**Yeah, I know, short but I'm working on some stuff for my mom…**


	4. Notes of Expression

**I do not own Naruto. I'm running a 102. 5 degree temp so…if it seems like the writing is out of it….**

**TTT**

Hinata scribbled the last of her math notes down and glanced at the clock. It was still a while until the bell rang. What was she going to do? She had finished her work, and left her book at home. There was nothing to do.

Hinata heard a thumping sound-not very loud. She glanced on her desk and saw a wadded up paper. She unfolded it and grinned.

_This chapter is so easy. I think Asuma-sensei is getting lazy._

_-Sakura_

Hinata smiled as she added her own little note. She would never have thought that Sakura would pass notes to her. She had always thought that Sakura only partly liked her. Plus, you couldn't stutter in a note.

_No kidding. But it beats something hard. But we all know the reason he's become lazy._

Without looking back Hinata flipped the note to Sakura. She was good at being unnoticed. Asuma wouldn't notice the notes. She was certain.

The note came back.

_Oh yeah! He wants to spend more time with Kurenai-sensei! It couldn't be more obvious. _

Hinata smiled. It was pretty obvious. Not that she cared particularly. Some students openly disapproved but Hinata didn't see Asuma and Kurenai having any public affection, so she didn't see what everyone had to complain about.

In fact she sometimes thought that Kurenai-sensei was shy about it. And in a way it made Hinata more connected with her.

_So are you feeling better? You were sick for a long time._

Hinata didn't know what else to say. It really irked her that she couldn't even find a conversation topic.

_I'm feeling much better, thank you. I missed signing up for student council. Which is such a bummer cuz Sasuke is going to be on there. Ino's probably going to be on there with him!_

Hinata figured that this was the best time to ask about the Ino/Sakura situation.

_Is that why you don't like Ino? Because of Sasuke?_

She waited for the note to come back. It did.

_Was that a hint of disapproval? Its okay, I guess it does seem kind of silly. But I really, really, really like him. Besides Ino is now in the popular crowd so it wouldn't do any good if we both liked him or not._

Hinata frowned. It was true, Ino did leave all her old friends behind. Her, Sakura, Sai…she frowned again. Thinking back, she remembered Sai having a real smile. Not the fake kind, but a true genuine smile. When did that stop? When Ino left him behind?

What was he hiding?

_I think I know what you mean. I wish you good luck on your search for love!_

After waiting a couple seconds the note came back. They had almost filled the pages of the paper they had stared with.

_So is there a guy you like? Surely there's someone._

Hinata paused. Did Sakura not know about her lack of friendship? How could she like a guy if she didn't even have friends? Well, Naruto was her friend. But at the moment that was all he was. She didn't have an abundance like Sakura.

Fortunately the bell rang and saved Hinata from mentioning it. Sakura waved as she left for History and Hinata watched her go. Left behind just like when they were young.

TTT

Naruto munched happily on the pizza. It wasn't ramen, but the school didn't serve ramen, which was a problem. He should write a letter of complain about it.

Kiba pulled up a chair next to him. He gave a wolfish grin before digging in. Naruto glanced around.

"Have you seen Gaara?"

Kiba shook his head. "He's not in school today."

Naruto frowned. He was instantly worried. If Gaara was sick then that could mean bad things in the future…

"Relax. I'm sure that Gaara's fine." Kiba muttered, though his heart wasn't in it. He hardly knew Gaara but in the short time they knew each other he had gotten along fine with he red head.

Shikamaru and Choji joined them and began to eat also. Naruto blinked as he looked into the lunch line. Hinata was standing there, alone apparently. He wondered if she had anyone to sit with?

Probably. She was so sweet, who wouldn't want to sit with her. He doubted that she would want to sit with a bunch of boys. Another person then caught his eye.

"Yo, Temari," he yelled.

The blonde with four pigtails glanced his way. She was a year older then all of them, but she wasn't a total jerk about it. When you thought about it, a year wasn't all that much.

Temari walked over to the table. Shikamaru sighed.

"Troublesome woman."

Temari apparently had over heard.

"Did you have something to say?" She asked, glaring at Shikamaru. Shikamaru responded by drinking his milk.

"Anyhow," Naruto cut into their argument, if one could call it that.

"Where's Gaara?"

Her face softened at the mention of her little brother.

"Gaara didn't feel like going to school today."

Naruto nodded. He was satisfied with the answer given. He noticed that Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru looked a little confused.

"Jinchuuriki get really, really tired sometimes." He explained. They nodded, getting back to lunch.

When Naruto looked over to the lunch line again, Hinata was gone.

TTT

"Congratulations to the following: Sasuke Uchiha," The announcer said over the intercom. Sasuke's ears perked up. This could only mean one thing. The Student Council had been chosen.

He had known that he would get in, but he was still a little nervous. Not that he let it show.

He would never let it show.

"Ino Yamanaka" the announcer continued. Sasuke sighed. It looked like he was going to have to put up with her. He had been expecting it.

"Rock Lee," Sasuke was taken aback by this. Lee of all people had made student council? He certainly had the enthusiasm, but still. Rock Lee?

"Shino Aburame," Sasuke just nodded. He really didn't know Shino, but from what he could see, the kid wasn't going to be a nuisance. He wasn't going to fool around.

The announcer named off a couple other names, but Sasuke was barely listening. He was distracted by…_him._

"Hello, _Sasuke,_" Naruto smiled, but the emphasis on his name was meant to be unfriendly.

"Naruto." Sasuke replied in turn. His voice was cold and hard. Suited for his rival.

They passed each other, nothing more said between them. There didn't need to be.

Their friendship was complicated. They were friends, yet enemies. They hated each other, yet were there for each when the other needed it.

Rivals. Friends.

TTT

Ino flipped her blonde hair. School was almost over. Once it ended she had a student council meeting to go to. The first meeting.

The bell finally rang, giving her freedom. It had been a good day, she had gotten on student council, meaning she was with Sasuke.

Take _that_, Sakura.

She was grinning, but the grin faded. Could that really be…He looked so different. She hadn't seen him since middle school. They never had any classes together and she was just so shocked.

Sai was drawing, of course he always did, she remembered. She wanted to go up and say that she was sorry. But that wasn't very befitting for her popularity title.

He glanced up at her and smiled. But something was a little off about it. It didn't feel right.

She heard someone whispering behind her.

"There he goes, with that fake smile again. I don't think the boy has any feelings at all." She clenched her fists. She would like to punch their gossiping faces.

It was true that they weren't friends anymore but she still felt partly protective. And what did they mean,_ fake._ His smile wasn't fake…

She glanced at it again. When did this happen? When did he become this way?

_I don't think the boy has any feelings at all._

He did. She knew he did.

She was selfish and she knew it. She kept walking past him.

TTT

**Please R&R! Sorry but as I'm sick that was the longest I could give.**


	5. A Hectic Night

**I do not own Naruto**

**TTT**

"I really don't think," Hinata said quietly, "That that's the way you cook a turkey." She was addressing Neji, who was trying to make dinner. Usually it was Hinata's job, but for whatever reason Neji wanted to make it tonight. Except Hinata had a sinking feeling that Neji was going to burn down the house.

"No really, I know what I'm doing." Neji replied, though the look on his face said otherwise. Hinata glanced at the turkey. It was still in foil- Hinata was pretty sure that shouldn't be- and the foil was held together by pins that Neji had stuck in the turkey. Hinata felt nervous just thinking about it.

"Why don't we start with something easier. Like…Chili?" she tried to prompt Neji. His face showed his refusal.

"Nope. To late, I'm going to cook this turkey." he replied determinedly. Hinata only stared in horror as he stuck it in the oven. Usually Neji was sensible, why he would try something like cooking she couldn't understand.

She paused. At least she had finally figured out something that Neji was bad at. She Hinata Hyuuga, was better at something then Neji. If she left him to fail at it then maybe her father would see…she immediately felt guilty. She had never realized that she was capable of such a selfish thought. She wasn't going to let Neji fail, not after a thought like that.

"Neji you don't need foil." Hinata whispered quietly. She wasn't sure if he would accept her help or not. He was so stubborn sometimes.

Neji hadn't always liked her. He had blamed her entire family for the death of his father, but when they were twelve he had seemed to soften a little. She couldn't remember what it was that she said, but it had made him less hostile. They had eventually grown to be friends, though Neji still hated her father.

Not that Hinata could blame him. Her father was a hard man to get along with, and it seemed that Neji needed someone to blame. Even after all these years he still had anger that burned within his heart.

Neji turned to her. The look on his face was reluctant and embarrassed.

"Would you…" he coughed. "Help me?" Hinata smiled. He should have asked long ago, and they wouldn't be having this ridiculous conversation. Hinata nodded and Neji's face relaxed.

"Here, take it out of the foil…"

When her father came home the turkey was in the middle of the table. He looked at it, for once without a critical gaze. He had been informed that Neji had fixed dinner by Hanabi. He was looking forward to sampling his nephews efforts.

"It looks delicious." He said in a casual tone. He was secretly impressed. He hadn't thought that the turkey would look _that_ good, despite his optimism.

"A job well done Neji." Mr. Hyuuga said. From the background Hinata smiled.

TTT

Hinata grinned when she saw Naruto the next day. They were walking to homeroom together, he had spotted her and decided to chat. She didn't mind at all, in fact she welcomed the company. Naruto was steadily becoming a reliable friend- something she had never had before.

"Me and some friends are eating at that café on Burton street. If you want you can come. Bring your friends along too, we want more people."

Hinata smiled. She wondered if she should ask Sakura. Would the pink haired girl accept? Especially if she knew it was Naruto? She wasn't sure.

"Of course I'll come." Hinata squeaked. "I would love too." Naruto grinned. He never seemed to look sad or down. She wondered, not for the first time, if he really was that happy. Most of the time his smile seemed genuine but every now and then she got the feeling that his smile wasn't quite the same.

They parted as she entered her homeroom. She felt her happiness dampen a little. The bullies she shared homeroom with never ceased to tease her. She felt a little bit of anger well up in her chest.

"Check it out," sneered Kabuto, a upperclassman that Hinata hardly knew. "It's stutter girl." He pushed his glasses up his nose as if he were all knowing. She hated it.

The creepy one with the white hair sat quietly in the back. He rarely said anything but he was obviously with Kabuto and the other bullies in her class. She remembered his name was Kimimaro. Though he may not pick on her she still didn't trust him.

She ignored Kabuto's remark. She didn't feel the need to even comment on his words. True she stuttered. Lots of people stuttered.

For once, she felt good. Almost like she had stood up to them.

TTT

After math class ended Hinata caught up with Sakura. The green eyes girl gave her a smile. "Hey Hinata, what's up?"

Hinata resisted the urge to squish her fingers together. She was trying to break the habit but so far it hadn't been working very well.

"I-I-was w-wondering if maybe you would want to come with me and a couple friends to the café on Burton." Hinata said quietly.

Sakura gave her a grin. "Sure. I'll have to ask my parents- they're real strict- but sounds good. Who all is coming?"

Hinata gulped. Now was the moment she was dreading. "Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru I think." She paused a moment "Probably Choji."

"Sounds fine. No wonder you invited me! There needs to be more girls!" If she was appalled by the people going, Sakura didn't show it. Hinata felt a little relieved.

As she walked Hinata wondered if she should invite Neji. She pondered this as she moved on to her next class.

TTT

It was the first official student council meeting. Sasuke glanced over everyone. He wondered if things were going to be okay.

Rock Lee was enthusiastically yelling. "I am so happy to be here! I hope to make our school a better place!"

Shino was observing quietly, emotions hidden by glasses and his jacket. Ino was already making her way toward him. There was also another girl. What was her name? She had her brown hair up in two buns and she looked rather like a tomboy.

Rock Lee was happily chatting with her.

"So its all great and all that we're here and everything." Josh Kabermasky said in a slightly bored tone. "But like aren't we supposed to be doing something for the school?" Nods of approval went up.

"I say that we change the cafeteria food." One boy said in a whiny voice. Ino immediately crushed his idea.

"That's not up to the student council. That's up to the admin." she replied in a pleasant voice.

Tenten replied openly, "They gave us a "list" of things to change." She frowned. "All this stuff has nothing to do with why we're here."

Everyone examined the lists including Sasuke. She was right. It went along the lines of planning school dances. Stuff the admin were to lazy to do themselves. Even he found a little part of himself rebelling at this.

"Why don't," he suggested, "We change things up a little?"

TTT

When Hinata got to the café it was packed. Packed full of Naruto's friends. He had a lot, and the waitress was scrambling to find them a table. She had already put four together and the other customers were staring as if they weren't quite sure if the dozen or more teens were for real or not.

In the end, she had invited Neji and Lee. Whether or not Neji would make a appearance was yet unknown. But Lee had said he would come and had even asked to bring a friend. She was reluctant at first, not sure if she should bring someone she didn't know. But she trusted Lee, and the girl looked nice enough. That was good.

Sakura had came as well. She had put her short pink hair in a ponytail and was happily chatting with a blonde that Hinata didn't know. The girl had four pigtails and dressed rather strangely.

"Hinata!" came the unforgettable voice of Naruto. Hinata secretly was pleased that she didn't scream. It seemed that whenever Naruto approached she let out a little involuntary cry.

"Yes Naruto?" She asked. For some reason she felt a little dizzy. She blamed it on the crowded room.

Naruto happily jogged over to her. The waitress, red faced and wheezing, had finally gotten their tables and was waving them over. Naruto ended up sitting next to her. Shikamaru on the other side.

The rest of the customers went back to eating their food, bored with the plethora of teenage kids that had shown up at the café. One elderly man, who was probably a regular, began having a lively chat with Kiba. He began telling Kiba his life story practically as Kiba distractedly listened.

"This sure is a lot of people," Hinata muttered. Naruto surveyed the room. "Yeah! And we take up most of it too!" He almost looked proud to the fact.

"Oh!" Naruto looked quickly at her. "I have a friend I wanted you to meet. He'll be here soon, he was just a little tired." He nodded to the blonde with pigtails. "That's his sister Temari. She's cool, you'll like her."

"What's your friends n-name?" she asked. She was vaguely aware that Shikamaru had fallen asleep, head on the table.

"Gaara."

The waitress stepped up and tiredly took out her pen and notepad. "May I get you something to drink?" she tried saying in a cheery voice. Hinata could see right through and felt bad for her.

"Oh I'll only have water, please." She planned on leaving a large tip for the underappreciated waitress.

"Ditto!" Naruto chirped. The waitress wrote it down and moved on. Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"I'm happy your friends decided to join us! The more the merrier and all!" Naruto grinned. Hinata thought that the waitress might feel differently but didn't mention it.

"Yes. I'm happy you invited us." she replied softly. He just waved his hand. "You're a friend. Of course I'd invite you."

Hinata's heart swelled a little at the word friend. She blushed and her pale eyes rested on his face a moment. Then she looked back down.

"Have you been in this school system for very long?" She finally asked after a small stretch of silence.

Naruto looked reluctant to answer the question. He seemed to consider his words, and it wasn't something he did. Hinata couldn't remember a time that he didn't just blurt out what he was saying. This was one of those moments that a careful and more cautious Naruto seemed to replace the old one.

"A few years." Naruto finally answered. "And you?" Hinata shook her head.

"I've been here forever it seems. But I like it. It's nice to know that the people I've known since I was little-no matter how much they change- will be the people I graduate with." She stated honestly.

Shikamaru tiredly pulled his head up from the table. He glanced around at everyone and then asked, "Did the waitress take our order yet?"

"No," Hinata and Naruto said at the same time. Hinata blushed and Naruto just laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to the bathroom, so if she comes then tell her I want a hamburger." Shikamaru yawned and then dragged himself up. He stumbled towards the men's bathroom.

As Kiba was leaning back in his chair the waitress happened to be walking by. She held the tray full of beverages that the teens had ordered. Kiba's chair hit her legs and she gave a cry and fell.

The water splashed onto a man who had been across from the slew of tables the teens sat at. He gave a surprised cry as the water dumped onto his head and lap and jumped from the table. The table knocked down, spilling food everywhere. The man kept jumping up and down as if his pants were on fire.

Kiba, in a attempt to help the waitress, slipped on a fallen ice cube. He gave a wolfish cry as his head slammed into the table behind him and startled the young couple sitting there. Their baby woke up from a nap and began to scream at the top of its lungs.

At the same time, Choji had seen Kiba go down had pushed away from the table startled, and his chair hit the other waiter carrying platters of food. People screamed as food splattered down their clothes. A candle was knocked down and the table cloth was set on fire.

Desperately racing to put out the flames Lee ran to the fire. As he passed the door it was flung open by a red haired boy who looked like he was wearing mascara. Lee slammed into the door and gave a yelp of pain.

"My nose!" he cried.

By now several waiters and waitress were hurrying to the scene. The old man who had been talking to Kiba commented, "It looks like karaoke night at Michelle's"

People screamed, children cried and the pregnant woman at a different table screamed "I'm going to have my baby! Someone get me to the hospital!"

Hinata could only stare in shock. Shikamaru exited the bathroom and calmly asked, "What did I miss?"

TTT

**Please R&R! If the scene that happened above happened to me I think I would just sit there and laugh my head off.**


	6. A Girl Who Had Words to Say

**I do not own Naruto. Thank you to all who reviewed.**

**TTT**

After being kicked out of the café, the teens lounged in the park trying to decide what to do. Their meal was ruined, no one got their food, and they were hungry. There were suggestions of just everyone calling it a night, but that was immediately crushed by those who wished to still save their enjoyable Friday evening.

Gaara had been the boy who had accidentally caused Lee's nose to gush blood. Hinata examined him closely when nobody was looking. He had red hair, a tattoo on his head, and wore browns and reds. He didn't say much, he was mostly quiet, but he had apologized several times to Lee.

Lee had taken it all rather well, his nose wasn't broken and he hadn't bled that much. He had merely suggested kindly that Gaara be more careful when opening doors.

"I have a suggestion." The girl Lee had invited voiced. They all turned expectantly toward her. Lee had introduced her as Tenten and had mentioned that he regretted that Neji wasn't there to meet her. He had said this with a wink at Hinata. She wondered how Neji would feel about that.

"Why don't we all just get ice cream? Coldstone's just right over there." she pointed across the street.

"Cold stone isn't very nutritious." Temari pointed out. Sakura nodded. "I hate to be a rain cloud, but that's true. I would feel kind of sick if I didn't have dinner first." Sakura said with a blush.

She and Naruto got along in a weird sort of way, Hinata mused. They each enjoyed smacking each other upside the head and would argue rather loudly. But it didn't seem to be hostile, more like friendly bickering.

"There isn't really anything cheap within walking distance and I didn't bring enough cash for a sit down restaurant." Choji inputted. They all nodded. That was true.

"Oh man, this is such a drag." Shikamaru yawned. He glanced across the street. "Check it out," he muttered. "It's that shady restaurant that my mom's afraid to go to." They all froze as if the words had trapped them.

Naruto was getting a look on his face that Hinata felt was mischievous. He turned to face all of them and raised an eyebrow.

"I know that look," muttered Kiba. "And its not good." Naruto immediately wiped it off his face, but everyone had noticed it. Gaara was the first to speak.

"You want us to eat _there_." He sounded more amused then anything else, though his facial expression hid it if he was. Gaara, she had noticed, didn't show his emotions very often, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking. She was reminded fleetingly of Neji.

"Better ideas? It could be interesting." Naruto replied.

"It could be life threatening." Sakura muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear. Naruto smirked in a way that made Hinata feel like she was missing something. Something wasn't quite right, but whatever it had been it hadn't lasted long enough for her to catch it.

"All we have to do is eat." Kiba supplied, starting to get into the idea. "Just because its shady doesn't mean that we're going to end up arrested."

Gaara was amused, Hinata decided. She thought she saw a small smile escape his lips but it was gone before she was certain it had been there.

"I'm in," he said in his deep raspy voice. Shikamaru shrugged and nodded, and where he went Choji followed.

Temari obviously had decided to follow her brother, probably praying that it was the right decision. Lee passionately cried out "It would be unyouthful not to!"

Tenten grinned and gave a thumbs up. Sakura sighed and then laughed a little. "I guess they can't do much to us if we're _all_ going."

"I will go also." Hinata finally gave in. Naruto gave a crooked grin.

"Its settled then."

TTT

It was dirty and smoky and the waiters had greasy hair but they sat down anyway, actually finding a spot that could hold them. They all asked for straws, after seeing the place. Hinata was more then a little nervous to actually sip from the cup.

She was sitting next to Sakura and Tenten and was listening to the conversation intently as if it could take away the rest of the shabby restaurant.

"I play basketball and tennis," Tenten was saying. "But I wanted to try something new so I ran for student council." Sakura nodded,

"Sasuke's on there right?"

"Ah. So you have a crush on him too huh? Don't look offended I'm just teasing." Tenten laughed. "Its just it seems like _everyone _has a crush on the infamous Sasuke Uchiha."

Hinata had to smile. She had thought the same thing when helping Naruto with his homework. Good looks aside, the Uchiha boy didn't have any special qualities that she could see. And his personality wasn't much to brag about either.

Shikamaru who was sitting nearby just yawned and muttered, "Girls and their silly crushes are so troublesome."

Temari was sitting next to him raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that all girls are like that?" She questioned in a rather intimidating voice. Shikamaru just shrugged carelessly.

"I'm not saying anything new."

Temari's other eyebrow went up. "Oh? And I suppose I'm just like that huh?" Hinata could feel the symptoms of a argument coming on.

"Stop griping. I was just saying that some girls-"

"You said all girls!"

"Would you let me finish?"

Hinata decided to let the argument play itself out. If Shikamaru Nara was alive by the time it ended then she figured that all was good.

She turned her attention back to Tenten and Sakura. They were still talking about Sasuke.

"I mean he's just so cute." Sakura squealed in a girlish voice that Hinata didn't know that she had possessed. Tenten rolled her eyeballs.

"Is that all you look for in a man?" She asked this with obvious disappointment.

"No. Its what I tell people but…" Sakura's voice trailed off. This got Hinata's attention.

"I have a reason I don't really feel like sharing." Sakura finally mumbled after a while. Hinata wondered what that was. She hadn't thought that Sakura had really ever even spoken to Sasuke before, only admiring him from a distance. But if she was wrong? What if Sakura had a reason that she didn't want to tell people? It would have to be very personal…

NO! Hinata snapped out of it. She was _not_ going to pry into anyone's life. She hated it when people did it to her and she wouldn't do it to Sakura. But at the same time, didn't she love it?

Hinata felt the weird thought, as if it were a food and she were tasting it. Maybe she did like it when people asked about her life. It meant that someone wasn't passing over her, was watching her, was…noticing her.

But wasn't being invisible what she did? Her thing? She frowned at the controversy rambling around in her brain.

She looked over the table at Naruto Uzumaki, the first person to have actually noticed her. To _really_ notice her. Not just…looking without seeing. She watched as his spiky hair moved forward when he did. It was almost enchanting.

Another weird thought that she didn't feel like sorting out.

"May I take your order?" a big beefy man asked. His name tag read: Fifi.

"Uh…I'll have a corndog." Hinata muttered, figuring that you would have to be a terrible cook to mess up a corndog. She figured that corndogs were safe.

"Would you like fries as your side?" He had a freakishly deep voice.

"Sure." she sounded like a mouse compared to him. She almost laughed.

He moved on and she went back to observing those around the table. Shikamaru and Temari were still arguing, though no longer on the subject that they had started with.

"Being lazy is who I am. Don't tell me how to run my life." Shikamaru growled in the same bored tone. His attitude seemed to irritate Temari more.

"You're a genius! Do something with your life!"

"What are you, my wife?"

Hinata was fairly certain that Temari blushed. She turned her attention back to others. Naruto and Gaara were talking now and Kiba and Lee were in some debate. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know what it was about.

Her corndog came, and though it was hard and obviously overdue she was happy to receive it without burning the building down. Everyone ate, this time with a topic that everyone- even occasionally Hinata- joined into. Teachers and gossip and normal things that teens did on a Friday evening. Hinata was proud.

Afterwards they grabbed ice cream, just as Tenten had suggested. It was about midnight when they all dispersed, and Hinata texted her father.

She didn't mind that she had too. It was a rule and a safety precaution that when she got done being with friends she text him. She however, wanted a little time alone.

_Dad- the time of friendship is done. I'm going to pick up some homework from a friends house so it'll be just a little longer._

She felt extremely guilty, never in her life had she _ever_ lied to her father. But she only wanted a moment to herself. That was all. Just a small moment.

She could even grab some extra credit from someone if it made it truthful. At least she hoped so. She could feel the guilt building up in her gut. _Normal_ teenagers wouldn't feel this way, she chastised herself. But then again, _normal _teenagers didn't think that calligraphy was fun.

Hinata slid into a limb of a tree. She reflected and found that although it had been crazy, she had enjoyed herself. Her friends bickering, their crazy antics, she actually kind of liked them.

"You're here too?"

Hinata screamed and fell from the tree. She smashed into the ground, but popped up, ready to face the possible pervert or stalker. Instead she faced Naruto. She blushed as she realized that she had yet again screamed when she saw him.

He chuckled. "Sorry. Are you okay?"

Hinata nodded. Her ribs hurt, but nothing was broken. Thankfully she hadn't been on a high branch.

"You sure? I'm really sorry about that…"

"Its fine. Thank you." Hinata felt proud to the fact that she hadn't stuttered.

"Yeah, well lets just blame it on the house on possessed hill." Naruto joked. Hinata laughed. The lonely house just down the road was rumored to be haunted because the hill it sat on was possessed.

"Its kind of sad," Hinata said softly. "That it is shunned and abandoned because of a rumor someone started." She blushed as she realized how ridiculous that sounded.

Naruto just shrugged and then muttered. "Yeah if there are any ghosts in there, I kinda feel sorry for them. It would be so lonely being a ghost."

Hinata saw a weird look on his face. "Naruto are you okay?"

He blinked and muttered, "I'm fine."

"We should go in there sometime. And see what its really like." Hinata had used the word "we" without really meaning too.

"No way. I may feel sorry for ghosts, but I don't really like them." He really did look afraid, like he thought that they now held a grudge against them.

Hinata looked at her watch. It was time to get home.

"I have to go. Later Naruto."

"Later," he waved, looking like his happy cheerful self again. His stormy ocean eyes blinked and then he was gone.

Hinata didn't realize until she got home that she hadn't stuttered once around him after dinner.

TTT

**Sorry it took so long to update! Laziness got a hold of me!**


	7. The Tears of Children

**Hello again! I do not own Naruto, however, the story plot is mine. Please enjoy!**

Naruto ground his teeth as the pain came in a dashing wave. It would subside in a moment and then come roaring back, hungry for more, taking away any chance he had of a good nights rest. He had briefly wondered if he should wake his foster father Iruka, but decided against it. The pain would be over soon, he could feel it slowing down already. He just had to wait it out.

He tasted blood as he bit his tongue. The metallic taste flooded his mouth and he spit it out in the trash can near his bed. He hadn't meant to bite that hard, but it hurt to much not too.

Gasping for breath, he flipped over in his bed. The pain was subsiding again, it would be back in a couple minutes, though not as harsh and unforgiving as the first time. His sweat had made the pillow damp, and he felt suddenly warm in the ears. He slowly got up and hobbled to the fan, turned it on and lay back in bed just in time for the next battle.

_Think of something good, something nice, something pretty._ He coached himself. _Do not concentrate on the pain_. He closed his eyes and went through his friends one at a time. Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Temari, Gaara….He opened his eyes. The pain was gone again.

He felt sick from it, like he suddenly had the flu. He wondered momentarily if perhaps he was going to throw up, but decided not to worry about it. The pain it seemed, was gone for the night.

He flipped his pillow over, finding it disgusting to have it damp. His night cap had fallen off somewhere, but he was too tired to look for it. Being in the nine tails stage was definitely not a fun time. Then again, being sick with a disease that the doctors hardly ever saw was no picnic either.

Some babies were just born with the Jinchuuriki disease. Naruto happened to be one of them. The disease started out with "one tail" as it was nicknamed, and then progressed all the way up to stage nine. Naruto was at that stage. Gaara had been born one, and stayed at one.

Naruto was the only one to actually make it all the way to nine tails in a sequential order. He didn't know if he should be happy or totally depressed, so he just went with happy. After all, he was alive right? Only problem was it was so stupidly painful.

At least he wasn't losing anything. He had no family, no life really, no job to keep, no people to protect. Iruka was nice to him, and he guessed he thought the guy would be a good father, but he wasn't Naruto's father and that was all that really mattered.

His friends. He would lose his friends, but he figured that they would cry, be sad and always remember him, but move on with their lives. Wouldn't they? He told himself this, to make the emotional pain more bearable.

He had explained it to them too. So that they wouldn't be shocked when…_it_ happened, when he died. Of course, he hadn't told his new found friends yet, Lee, Tenten, Sakura and Hinata…

He wondered at that shy girl. It didn't seem that she had a mean bone in her body. It was as if she were totally incapable of a mean thought, a unkind word or gesture. She was incredibly shy, and somehow Naruto thought that it was kind of cute.

He wondered when he would tell them? It wasn't easy telling the people you loved that you probably weren't going to be around much longer and he hadn't known them that long. Unless you counted a month as long. Then he knew Hinata Hyuuga for a while.

_Its shunned and abandoned because of a rumor someone started. _Were those words meant for him? Had she said this on purpose? Impossible. Nobody knew about his life before he moved here. Hinata had only been speaking the words of a person with a soft enough heart that they cared about a old, rotting house. That was all.

Naruto fell asleep with that thought.

TTT

Ino poured herself a cup of orange juice and smiled as it drained down her throat. The bright early morning sunshine shone through the window, and Ino couldn't help but remember why she loved early mornings.

_Because, I'm finally totally alone._ Her father wasn't here, her mother was at work and she wasn't surrounded by friends or people trying to ask her out. She liked being with people, sure, but eventually she tired of it all. After a time, she longed for solitude and silence, at some point even craved it.

It was the secret that she had never shared with anyone. Not any of her numerous boyfriends, not her parents, not her friends. She wasn't planning on telling anyone.

Yawning, Ino began to stretch. She remembered when she was younger she had hated it when the house was empty, feeling abandoned, like everyone had left her. Now, it was a luxurious comfort that no to her then any other thing in the world.

Barefoot, she stepped out onto the patio. It was still darkish out, and the air felt still. She walked to the front yard and down the drive way, heading out to the public sidewalk. She doubted that the playground that she was walking to would have many children playing at this time of the morning.

She wrinkled her nose as she felt gravel squish through her toes. The swings were on the other side of the playground, and she didn't want to seem girly but the gravel contained things that she'd rather not step on.

Sitting down on the swing, she heard the sound of feet pattering behind her. She turned and saw a little girl, with pale eyes and dark raven hair. It was short, and the girl seemed to like the color dark purple, since it was all she really seemed to wear.

"Hello," Ino muttered, rather embarrassed to be caught on a children's swing. The little girl just patted to the swing next to Ino and sat down on the swing next to her and hummed quietly. Ino shrugged.

"Do you like the swing?" she asked in that high voice that you spoke to little children with. The little girl turned her head and gave a little giggle.

"Yes. You must like it too." She observed. The girls pale eyes seemed to take in every little detail and it reminded Ino of someone she met, though she couldn't say who.

"I do. But don't tell anyone, it will have to stay a secret."

The little girl nodded like some wise guru and asked, "What's your name?" Ino smiled.

"I'm Ino. And yours?"

The little girl hesitated but finally gave in. "I'm not supposed to tell strangers my name but since you told me yours I'll say." She took a breath then continued, "I'm Hanabi."

Ino felt as if she should know this somehow. The little girl looked so remarkably familiar that it was driving her crazy not knowing who she was reminded of. Some distant relative? That couldn't be it, though not all Yamanaka's had blonde hair none had that dark black shade that the girl sported.

"I have a big sister," the girl yammered on. "She's the bestest sister in the world but she's asleep right now so I came to the park on my own. My cousin wouldn't take me if I asked him, he doesn't like my family very much." she seemed to be content with talking to Ino like she'd known her for years.

"Does anyone know that you're here?" Ino asked feeling a little guilty. It wasn't a feeling that she had often.

The girl let out a tired little sigh, as if she expected the conversation to somehow come around to this. "No. I'll go home now."

She slipped off the swing and began to trot away. "Wait!" Ino called. "I'll walk you home!" she felt worried. Little girls shouldn't be walking alone.

The girl just shook her head and disappeared from view. Ino ran to follow her, but the strange child was out of sight. Ino felt chills, surely she hadn't walked that fast? Ino's superstitious side immediately thought the girl was a ghost but she crushed that idea. Ghosts weren't real.

Either way, she marveled at how the girl had been there and left so quickly.

TTT

Sai gave a small sigh of frustration. He wasn't finished with the picture, but he had most of it down, enough to finish it without needing a visual. The rest would have to be done by memory.

He looked down at it feeling pleased. It showed a swing set, with two girls talking to each other. The first was older with blonde hair being blown by the wind, slightly obscuring her face. The girl next to her had black hair and was happily chatting.

It had come out extremely well. What luck, that he had decided to come to the park this morning and found the perfect scene for a drawing.

He gave a genuine smile. Unfortunately, no one else was there to see it.

TTT

It was late in the afternoon and Neji refused to sweat. Others would have called it impossible but Neji was determined not to let a single drop fall from his body, whether or not there was truth to the saying.

He had told Hinata that he would grab the ingredients that she needed for dinner (only because she had helped him with the turkey) and she had of course, given him something that could only be found at the grocery store with the broken air conditioner. It was blazing hot and Neji would NOT let the heat triumph over him.

Sun dried tomatoes. Why couldn't she have just asked for regular old tomatoes? Leave it to a female to complicate something so simple. He grabbed the can and then paused…how many did she need?

Had she even told him? He couldn't remember. That wasn't like him, making a common mistake like that.

He just needed to do the math in his head. If there were five people at the dinner table then how much pasta would be sufficient to satisfy the hungry needs of ones dining? But he wasn't looking for pasta, he was looking for sun dried tomatoes.

"Can I help you?"

Neji whirled immediately, finding one of the employees smiling at him. Her brown hair was in two buns and she had brown eyes. By all means, she should have looked plain but for some reason Neji felt her warm personality make up for it, her smile making her eyes come out clearer and her face light up.

"I was just getting some sun dried tomatoes and I didn't know how many…" His voice trailed off as he realized how stupid he sounded.

"Lets see, what are you making?" The girl asked helpfully. Neji got a grip over himself and replied in his usual cold and aloof tone "Pasta for five."

"Well, then you would need two cans." The girl gave him an easy grin. Neji nodded and promptly replied "Thank you."

He picked up two cans and went to check out. He proudly realized that not a single drop of sweat had fallen. He gave himself a self satisfied smile. Point Neji.

Paying for the dried vegetables that had caused him so much trouble, Neji hurried home. After giving the cans to Hinata she merely gave him a sweet smile that Neji knew would have everyone wondering if she was for real or not.

"Thank you Neji. How insightful of you! I forgot to tell you how many I needed but you still came up with the right number."

"I had a little help." He replied reminded of the girl with the brown hair and a grin that had distracted him long enough to feel discombobulated. Hinata gave him a curious look, but he ignored it. He headed for the stairs and the privacy of his room.

He sat down on his bed and looked out the window. He was becoming to used to being in this home. He guessed that it wasn't Hinata or Hanabi's fault that his father was dead but his uncle…_that_ was a different story.

The man had all but killed his father himself and then took Neji in like nothing had happened and doted upon him like some great aunt. Why? Did he feel guilt, so he had kept showering Neji with praises?

If so, then he was obviously blind. Neji didn't want his praise, Neji didn't want anything from him. It only made things worse, acting like his brothers death hadn't happened and then pretending like Neji was his son or something. It made Neji sick.

If there was anyone that the man ought to acknowledge then it was his own daughter. Hinata worked long and hard doing things that her mother didn't do for the family and she still managed to do well in school. What his uncle had to complain about was hidden from Neji. She never said one thing mean to anyone and always made sure to lend a hand when someone needed it. But instead all he gave her was a disapproving glare and a lecture if he felt that she needed it.

This only fueled his hatred for his uncle even more. Any little thing that was done that Neji found with unhappiness was added to the list of reasons why Neji couldn't stand him. All the man had to do was practically live and somehow Neji would find something to pin on him.

But it was no less then he deserved. Neji closed his eyes, and decided to take a nap. Maybe one day he would get the gall to actually share his thoughts with his uncle.

TTT

Sasuke threw the vase as hard as he possibly could. Itachi ducked just in time before it would have shattered into his head. Sasuke glared at his brother, his emotionless, uncaring brother. Itachi stared right back and sighed.

"I hope you die!" Sasuke yelled. Itachi flinched, but didn't reply, he only left the room. Sasuke ground his teeth and angrily clenched and unclenched his fists. That, that…_Itachi_… He could feel rage sweep over him in the now familiar way that it had.

It had been several years since his parents death, and Itachi had taken it upon himself to raise Sasuke when they had passed on. Obviously they didn't get along. Itachi was always doing things for his own benefit, never caring about Sasuke's view on things, nor what he wanted.

"I really do hope he dies," Sasuke hissed between his teeth. He stopped clenching his fists but still felt anger, red hot searing beneath his skin.

What had happened? He used to love his brother. They used to do stuff like play hide and seek and then one day something changed. Itachi went to school and Sasuke didn't see him anymore. And then…his parents were gone and there was still suspicion around their deaths.

How should he say it? Why not just put in the blunt truth? They were murdered and nobody found their killer. Sometimes…Sasuke didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to remember their cold unseeing eyes and frozen skin…

He fought down vomit. He refused to remember. It didn't help that Itachi's friends were all just a bunch of dirt bags, and sometimes he just got sick of it all. All of Itachi's going outs and secrets…privacy was one thing but his older brother had him scared.

Thank goodness he had school. And the student council. He hated it when he was home and the student council was a relief from that. He hadn't actually expected to get anything done, just joined for the fact that he wanted away from this awful and unloving home.

Everyone of course, thought that he had joined for popularity. That just showed how little they all knew about him, how little they would ever know. They all assumed that being popular was all he cared about but they all failed to realize that he _hated_ being popular. He hated the constant attention and everyone wanting him to talk. The ranting fan girls and all the noise.

Some thought that he had it all. Some would give almost anything for what he had. But none of them had lived in his place, and none of them would ever understand.

That's why, in a way, he kind of admired Uzumaki. 'Course he'd never admit it, but now and then he found himself appreciating the fact that Uzumaki saw something that no one else saw. He didn't rant and rave over him, and though he may hate Sasuke's guts, he knew way more about him then any of the multiple girls that were always asking him out.

But he also hated Naruto. Naruto was loud and annoying and would make more noise then the demolition derby. Didn't the kid ever know how to be _quiet_?

Sasuke realized that his hand had stopped shaking and that he was calming down. It scared him sometimes, the rage that went through his system.

He noticed that it was a beautiful day outside, and he desperately wanted out. But to do that he would have to go downstairs and see Itachi. Sometimes just looking at his brother made him mad.

Carefully, he lifted up the window. There was a not very strong tree just outside, and Sasuke wondered briefly if it could really hold his weight. Pushing his dark hair away from his eyes, he considered just jumping out of the window all together. Upon second thought he decided to actually try the tree, discarding his previous stupid idea.

Testing his weight on the flimsy branch, Sasuke began to move over. His stomach dropped as he heard a SNAP! As he fell, he wondered if this was such a good idea after all.

He landed on his side, and after a couple minutes of miniscule pain sat up. The fence was the only thing between him and freedom and he slowly walked towards it. He glanced around, and immediately felt foolish. Who was going to be suspicious of a sixteen year old boy leaving his yard?

He opened the gate and stepped outside. Sasuke Uchiha was in the open.

TTT

**This may seem like a random chapter, but its actually pretty important. Lots of the things that happened here will lead to greater things in the future! And if you feel so inclined, then leave a review!**


	8. Shopping Bags and Ghosts

**I do not own Naruto, however the story plot is mine. There will be a slight twist with Lady Chiyo…if you don't like then sorry, but I'm not changing it. Thank you to all who reviewed…now lets continue!**

**TTT**

The first thing Sasuke felt when he saw the giant building that was supposed to be a mall, he felt unimpressed. Sure, he'd been to a mall before (who hadn't?) but this was supposed to be the best mall in town, the one that you were lucky to live by.

Throngs of people were parking and entering, and about a dozen teens loitered at the entrance. Sasuke couldn't find anything more special about this mall then any other one he had ever been too. It was definitely not what he had been envisioning.

All the same, now that he was here it would be rather pointless to go back. It was either plunge in or go back to sulking in his room. And the latter wasn't all together appealing. Stepping with purpose he began to enter the door.

Blaring music mobbed his ears, and the screams of children could be heard throughout the building. It was time to start, do something fun for a change.

He fingered Itachi's credit card in his pocket. Something fun, indeed.

TTT

Hinata's pale eyes pleaded with his blue ones. Naruto sighed and shook his head. "No way. No way am I going into creepy possessed house. No matter how nicely you ask."

He and Hinata had just sort of met up near the park. He didn't know why, exactly, he had called but he felt more peaceful around her. As if a quiet but present light shone around her, making him more light and easy. It was an odd feeling. One he really couldn't describe.

So, in the midst of a small fight with Iruka he had decided to take a break. And for whatever reason he had gone to great pains to find her cell number. He had to go through Sakura to find it. He owed the green eyed girl a dinner after he had finished bargaining with her.

And after he had gone to all that trouble to find her number and call her, get the nerve to ask her to hang out (why had it been so difficult to ask?) she wanted to go to the house. The house on possessed hill. He wished now, that he had never mentioned the rotting, creepy building. It seemed that now she wanted to enter it, more specifically with him.

"Why not? It's not like its really possessed." Hinata insisted. Even though she was arguing, it still sounded like she was apologizing for bothering him. Naruto wondered if she was always like this? So shy that she couldn't even argue with someone without doubting herself? It wasn't like he was going to stop being her friend if she kept it up. Plus, the fact that she was so selfless and unwanting all the time made it even harder to refuse. Something about her made it hard for him to say no.

"You don't know that it isn't!" Naruto quipped. A small, very timid smile suddenly made an appearance on Hinata's face.

"Naruto…are you superstitious?" Her eyes danced with amusement. She knew the answer already, she was just confirming it. Naruto flapped his arms as he began to get flustered.

"Wha-? No of course not! Ghosts aren't real, I know that!" He put on a fake smile. Hinata burst into giggles.

"Oh, come one, don't laugh!"

"I knew it!" She pulled her black hair away from her face and smiled. He noticed that she never smiled with her teeth, preferring instead to only smile with her mouth. It was cute, but he wondered what a full blown smile would look like on her.

"Even if there are such things as ghosts, that isn't any guarantee that they would hurt you." She pointed out. Naruto always hated arguing with logic.

"If you were a ghost, would you try to harm people?" she asked. Naruto was slightly bewildered at the question. Really, when you thought about it that was a good point.

"No…not harm anyone maybe but…I would play pranks." He confessed. It seemed like he had always played pranks on people. If it was only because they would look at him, it was still enough. Even being looked upon with hate was better then being ignored.

There was no look of chastisement at his answer. If anything, she looked pleased with his honesty.

"And _if _there are ghosts in that house, aren't they more likely to play pranks then kill you?" Naruto sighed in defeat. There was no use talking her out of it. She was determined to go.

"Alright, alright." He paused. "We'd be breaking and entering you know." Hinata frowned a little. She certainly didn't want to get in trouble but…this house had sparked something in her, and she felt the need to follow it.

"Nobody lives there…" she tried to reassure herself. Then she clenched her fist. She wasn't going to wimp out. There was something in that house that she needed. She could feel it.

"Are you ready?" she asked, surprised that her voice wasn't shaking. For some reason she was much more confident with Naruto, although she wouldn't say bold. Still…it was odd and new.

"So, we just go up there and open the door?" he asked. He knew that most of the time he asked stupid questions but he was a little confused on how they were going to do this. He didn't want to just charge into the house.

"I was thinking…" Hinata said softly, suddenly aware and shy again. "That perhaps we should knock on the door first."

Naruto blinked for a couple seconds before asking "Why? Nobody lives there, you said so yourself."

"But we aren't positive. Its just the polite thing to do." She replied weakly, suddenly feeling very stupid. He was right, nobody lived there, knocking wasn't going to change that. What did she expect would happen? That a ghost would answer the door?

Naruto didn't laugh, and didn't make fun of her odd statement. Instead he just shrugged his shoulder and said "That's fine. We can knock."

Hinata blushed and nervously squished her fingers together. Nothing was more was said as they started down the street and towards the hill with the foreboding house. It was father away then they had originally thought, and this made Hinata a little nervous. She kept peering around her to see if anyone was about to jump out and…do what? She mentally smacked herself. Nobody was over here, that was perfectly obvious.

Besides, in the self defense unit that her Gym teacher had given for a week she had been told that criminals were less likely to attack when there was two people in a group. Especially if one of the people was a male. Even if Naruto didn't look at all ferocious in his bright orange jacket and equally orange converse (she had never seen them in that color before) she still felt a little safer.

Not that she didn't think she couldn't take care of herself. She had over 20 20 vision and her father had taught her quite a bit. She supposed you could say that she was rather skilled in the martial arts area. At first when she was younger, she hadn't planned on taking it. But once her father had heard that Neji was well on his way…there really hadn't been a choice after that.

She had shocked herself by enjoying it. Few knew of her talent and she liked to keep it that way. She wondered at what people would think if they knew that sweet Hinata could probably take them down in about 20 seconds.

Once they got closer to the house Hinata could see that it had once been a very expensive place. Probably a very higher up family summer house. Or perhaps a well to do single man. She felt something odd go across her skin as she wondered at its secrets. She had never considered herself curious, but there was some sort of mystery that the house possessed that brought it out of her.

Standing on the front steps was even more weird, and she could see that Naruto was nervous. He was always so confident and bold, but it seemed that the mention of the supernatural was somehow to much for him. She wondered if it was just a human fear he had, or if there was a reason that had brought it o him.

"Not like its going to happen but…" Naruto's voice trailed off. He rose the knocker and gave three quick raps.

Both teens almost fell off the porch when the door opened and a face peered from behind it.

TTT

"Would you like a bag?" the woman behind the counter asked. Sasuke nodded and glanced down at the other bags that already hung off his arms. He momentarily felt guilty, but reminded himself that it was Itachi. Itachi didn't deserve pity. He comforted himself with that thought.

He wasn't even buying anything useful. Some clothes for himself and other little trinkets but right now he was in a random store that sold stuff that women seemed to like most. One of those stores that sold the cute little signs that said "Home is where the heart is" and stuff like that.

Candles were a majority at stores like these. He had bought several just to waste money but two actually had a purpose. The first one was cinnamon scented (he would never admit it but he loved the smell of cinnamon) and the other was the color of Sakura blossoms.

It reminded him of the girl from long ago.

TTT

To Hinata and Naruto, it was awkward. But the woman didn't seem to mind. They were sitting in her living room listening to her speak. She chatted absently and they both came to the conclusion that she wasn't exactly with them.

"That's right. Chiyo hasn't had a visitor in years…" she murmured, half to herself. "Chiyo was lonely…all by herself."

Naruto and Hinata exchanged glances. What had they gotten in too?

TTT

**So. Perhaps a little confusing at the moment. Sorry about not updating sooner, I was on vacation. Please review!**


	9. The Grocer Girl and Lunch

**I do not own Naruto. The story plot is mine. Thank you to all who reviewed, and now to continue!**

**TTT**

"My name is Chiyo. But you must call me Lady Chiyo." the old woman said importantly. She had gotten out fancy china tea cups that looked very old and very expensive. Herbal tea was in each cup, and there was one for each of the people joining "Lady Chiyo."

"And what shall Chiyo call you?" Lady Chiyo asked Hinata. Hinata blushed and stuttered "H-H-Hinata." The woman nodded and murmured "Lady Hinata." She turned her dark eyed gaze to Naruto. "And you good sir? What shall I call you?"

Naruto didn't think he was fit to be called "good sir" and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted the elderly woman to know his name. She was obviously a little loony in the head, and since nobody knew that she lived here it made her a recluse also. Naruto glanced at Hinata. She had said her real name…

"Naruto." he finally answered. The woman pushed some of her gray locks away from her face and muttered "Sir Naruto. It fits you somehow."

Naruto again wondered exactly how he should respond to this. The situation was made even more awkward by her next comment.

"Such pretty hair Sir Naruto has. Don't you think Lady Hinata?" Hinata blushed as red as a tomato and began to cough. "I-I-don't know, I mean uh-" she began to look a little dizzy. Naruto tried to step in and save Hinata. "I'm sure Hinata would like to keep such forward opinions to herself." He winked at Hinata. She gave him a timid smile back, obviously relieved not to have to say anything.

Lady Chiyo gasped dramatically. "Indeed! You are quite right! Chiyo shouldn't have been so forward!" she gave Naruto an apologetic look. "It's just Chiyo once saw a man who was the spitting image of you. Long ago."

Naruto froze a little. He had never known his parents, never knew their names and never saw a picture of them. He wondered if Lady Chiyo had seen his father? Of course it was very unlikely but a man who looked just like him? Was it possible? If not a father then a relative of some kind? He bit his lip. He didn't want to hurt Iruka's feelings by trying to find out. Still…he had to know. Something inside of him begged to know the answer.

"What was the name of the man?" Naruto asked, leaning forward a little. Lady Chiyo put a finger to her lip and whispered "Shhhh." Glancing around her house suspiciously she murmured "Chiyo doesn't always like to remember. Sometimes she just wants to forget."

Naruto wasn't sure what it meant. But he did know this, the intensity in Lady Chiyo's eyes was very real and very much alive. Lady Chiyo didn't want to remember. And Naruto could relate with wanting to leave things gone and buried.

As if the seriousness of her last words never happened, Lady Chiyo turned to Hinata. "You have pretty hair as well my dear. Very lovely, and it goes with those pale eyes of yours." Hinata blushed at what she supposed was a compliment and muttered "thank you."

The room fell into silence that Lady Chiyo seemed to ignore. She was happily sipping tea. Naruto felt even more awkward then at first, and he _never_ felt uncomfortable with people. Glancing at Hinata he could tell that she was feeling the same way, except maybe a hundred times more anxious.

"Well Lady Hinata and I have to go. A very important date with a…uh…king. We simply cant miss it." Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and began to head for the door. "Thank you so much for the tea!" he called. Hinata echoed him "Yes, thank you." Lady Chiyo looked down a moment, then looked back up at them.

"You'll come back to visit again wont you?" she asked nervously. Hinata suddenly had a spurt of bravery she walked over and patted Lady Chiyo's hand. "Of course." she gave Lady Chiyo her best smile. "We'll even bring other friends." Naruto assured her.

They stepped out of the dusty old house and back into the sunshine.

TTT

Neji paced nervously. He was back at the grocery store where he had met the friendly employee about his own age. He didn't want to admit it, but he wanted to see that girl again. He had even made sure it was the same time as the other day so he wouldn't miss her. So here he was pacing up and down the canned foods aisle like a fool.

"Can I help you?" Neji whirled and faced the girl from before. Her hair was still up in two adorable buns on her head, and this time he caught the name on her tag. It said Tenten. A look of recognition went across her face.

"You're the pasta guy I helped!" she exclaimed.

"Neji." he replied weakly. She gave him a quick smile. They stood there awkwardly for a couple minutes.

"So…do you need help?" Tenten asked. Neji mentally smacked himself. She was _working_ for pities sake, of course she wasn't going to be able to just drop everything and chat. Chat? Was he such a moron now that he "chatted?" Neji gave her a quick look before clearing his throat. "Actually, no thank you, I was just…browsing." He sounded like such an idiot. Who "browsed" the canned foods aisle?

"Oh." Tenten didn't know why, but she felt a little sad. For some reason she wanted to help the odd pale eyed boy in front of her. He had long dark brown hair and he acted a little aloof, but for some odd reason Tenten liked being around him.

She was a confident girl, she admitted that. But what she said next shocked her into oblivion.

"I'm about to take my lunch break, want to join me?"

What in the world was she doing? She didn't know this boy, he could be a criminal for all she knew! Perhaps all along part of his plan was for her to ask him, and then snatching her at the restaurant. She had heard stuff like this. This boy could be anyone…

They stared at each other for a couple minutes. Tenten was certain that he was about to say no, but something odd happened. He seemed to smirk a minute, before a tiny, barely even visible smile appeared. She must have been imagining it, for when she blinked it was gone.

"Yes. Yes, I think I will join you." Neji replied. She couldn't help but smile. He always spoke with that funny cold tone that she couldn't help but be amused by. Did he talk that way to everyone? Or was it just to the lowly grocer employee?

"Where do you usually eat?" Neji asked. Tenten pointed to the sandwich shop across the street. Together they awkwardly walked over and ordered the sandwiches. Hardly anything was said as they ate and it was over small little things when they did. Tenten went back to work and Neji went home.

So she hadn't been kidnapped. That was something to go on.

As awkward as it had been, they both wondered why they had enjoyed it.

TTT

Neji had just gotten home and was laying on the bed when he was disturbed by the phone ringing. Wondering if maybe it was Hinata he reached to answer it. He was a little worried about her for he hadn't seen her all morning and Hanabi said that she hadn't come home for lunch.

"Hello?" Neji asked in his cold, clipped tone. If it was Hinata he didn't want her to know that he was worried. But the fact that it wasn't worried him even more.

"Neji!" an enthusiastic voice yelled at the other end. Only one person would scream over a telephone, and that one person would be Rock Lee.

"I've been trying to call you on your cell phone all day!" Lee babbled. Neji glanced at his cell phone, still plugged in to the wall. He hadn't brought it to the store with him. Glancing outside, he could see that clouds were invading the sunlight. It would probably rain soon.

"What do you want Lee?" Neji asked. Lee didn't even slow down after Neji's question. "Remember the girl that I met in student council? The one I was telling you about?"

"I guess." Neji replied, feeling a little bit of dread. He had a good idea of what Neji was going to ask him.

"I really think you should meet her Neji! She's a great girl! And I know you don't really date but I think that she's perfect for you!"

Neji pinched the bridge of his nose. Lee had set him up with other girls before and it never ended well. The first one had been so hyper she couldn't even sit down without having to move to another chair within several minutes. The other one had been so incredibly boring, only wishing to talk about atoms and molecules.

"I don't think so Lee. Sorry but…I just don't think so." Lee sighed over the phone. "Very well! I will find someone for you someday!" Neji rolled his eyeballs.

"Hey Lee…have you seen Hinata today?"

"Hinata? I'm afraid I haven't. Stay youthful!" he yelled as he hung up his phone. Neji sighed. It was about time that he texted Hinata to see if she was okay.

TTT

Hinata glanced at her buzzing phone and was shocked to see that Neji was the one who had texted her. With something like caution she studied the text.

_Where are you? I haven't seen you all day._

Hinata smiled knowingly. Even when texting, Neji was a huge fan of grammar. He was always correcting Hanabi in the "proper way to speak." Because Hanabi was so young she didn't understand why Neji had thought it a big deal.

_I'm out with some friends. Sorry for not telling you!_

Neji would never forgive her if she didn't answer in proper grammar. It would be the highest insult to him. She had a sudden vision of a powerful businessman Neji, correcting all his cowering employees in their speaking mannerisms.

"Earth to Hinata!" Naruto waved his hand across her face. She blinked several times, realizing that he had been talking to her while she was thinking.

"You okay? You totally blanked out on me." He said glancing curiously at her cell phone. He must have noticed the name because he commented "Is he your boyfriend?"

Hinata stepped dead in her tracks and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. They just seemed to get warmer and warmer until she felt dizzy. Naruto's look went from curiosity to concern. "Uh…was it something I said? I'm sorry I didn't-"

"No" she choked out. "He's my cousin, not my boyfriend." She really didn't feel well. She figured she should probably sit down before she killed herself with embarrassment.

"Head between your legs." Naruto coached, although he wasn't totally certain that it was what you really did in situations like these. He had no idea how it worked or its what you were supposed to do. Wasn't that for people who were going to pass out? Hinata looked like she was going to pass out.

Hinata did as she was told, feeling to sick to wonder if Naruto really knew what he was doing or not. The words _Boyfriend_ kept resounding in her mind. Naruto thought she had a boyfriend? She couldn't quite grasp why this was bothering her so much. It was just a phrase right? Naruto was probably teasing.

Hinata wondered why she had thought he would know who Neji was. He had only met her a couple months ago, why would he know that Neji was her cousin? This _was_ Naruto they were talking about.

"My cousin…" She repeated softly, staring at Naruto with some odd feelings mixing inside her.

Naruto gently tapped her on the back, as if scared that he might make her worse by doing so. "I know, I know, you said." He replied in a comforting tone. Inside he was secretly worrying over what to say. She seemed a little out of it and he didn't know whether or not she should go to a doctor.

Hinata breathed slowly trying to calm her nerves. She felt extremely embarrassed that someone was actually seeing her in this pathetic state. The dizziness was starting to ebb and she sat up a little. She moaned as her vision wavered a little.

"Just take it easy." Naruto muttered. He was pretty sure that they were going to need a doctor. He just didn't know how he was going to get one. He didn't like the thought of leaving Hinata on the sidewalk .But at the same time, he didn't really fancy the idea of her passing out and him having to carry her.

Slowly she began to stand up. "I'll be fine. I'm already feeling better." She whispered. Naruto rubbed his neck awkwardly. He glanced at her t-shirt and for the first time noticed what was on it. In an attempt to get her mind off of her random episode, she began to chat.

"So…you like video games?" He gestured to her Legend of Zelda t-shirt. She blushed a little but gave him a careful grin.

"I do." She was unsure how she could continue the conversation, but Naruto was already doing the work for her.

"What's your favorite?" he asked.

"Oh that's easy." Hinata suddenly felt shy again. She suddenly realized that she'd hardly stuttered in front of Naruto the entire day. This somehow seemed to make her even more conscious of it.

"Super Smash Bros. Brawl." she muttered, concentrating hard on not stuttering. Naruto didn't even seem to notice.

"No kidding? I've never played that."

Hinata stopped. She wanted to ask him to play it sometime with her. If he felt that was awkward they could always invite more friends, right?

"Naruto…how about next weekend you, me and…a couple other friends can come over to my house and…play it."

She remembered that video games were for nerds. Was Naruto laughing at her on the inside? She bit her lip.

But one glance at him told her otherwise. He had on a wide grin and he was nodding. "That sounds like fun!"

"I'd have to ask my father first but…"

She really didn't think he would mind. Hinata felt a smile tug at her mouth. She was no longer dizzy from her almost passing out randomly attack, and this made her feel good. Really good.

They ran for cover as the rain came down upon them, and for some reason it just made it all the more fun to be with one another.

TTT

**So please leave a review if you can! I wasn't sure how everyone feel about Hinata liking video games. I figured everyone did at some level, and I hope no one was offended. Not lots of action with the other characters so far, but they'll each get their turn. I don't encourage anyone to eat lunch with someone they don't know or have only met the second time. That was only for the purpose of the story and may not work out so well in real life. So now, I say good bye. **


	10. Smiles That Die

**I do not own Naruto. The reason that I didn't update in a while was because I happened to be on vacation.**

**TTT**

Big fat snow flakes dropped down on the pinkest hair he had ever seen. Six year old Sasuke Uchiha looked at the color with some wonder and fascination, and just a little bit of enchantment.

"What's your name?" The girl with bright pink hair asked, taking off her pink gloves that matched her hair. For a moment Sasuke looked at the entire outfit and suddenly felt a little sick with all the pink. He wondered if _all_ little girls were obsessed with the color.

"I'm Sasuke!" He replied in a cheerful voice (one that would later vanish entirely) and took a step closer to the girl. She giggled and bit her lip. He realized that she had green eyes, and suddenly, he was rather taken with them.

"I'm Sakura." She told him, even though he hadn't asked. When you were six, things like that didn't seem to matter. Being friends, however, did.

"That's funny. Your hair is like a sakura blossom." He said. She grinned at him again, and this time he could see that she had a missing tooth amidst the rows of white baby teeth that still had time left to fall.

"Do you want to make a snowman with me?" Sasuke asked, and the girl nodded.

Sasuke Uchiha _loved_ that shade of pink.

TTT

"Ahem." Sasuke coughed, trying to get the vice principals attention. The dark haired woman looked up and Sasuke noticed her name tag for the first time. Her name was Shizune, apparently.

"Can I help you?" She asked. Sasuke nodded.

"Uh, yes, well…"

Was he mistaken or in that picture on her desk was she really holding a _pig_?

"I'm the president of the student council." He had decided to show her that he had some sort of authority. Sounding like some kid who had skipped detention would get him nowhere in what he was trying. The whole student council was counting on him, and for some reason this mattered.

He hadn't expected to end up liking them all, even Ino who was a fan girl, but somehow they had become his friends. Sort of.

And he wasn't going to let them down.

"And we were thinking that we wanted something bigger then planning school dances and assigning hall patrol. Joining student council is about making a difference. And planning school dances inst making a difference."

Shizune-Sensei only raised an eyebrow. He took it as a sign to continue.

"So, perhaps its true that as…" He was going to say kids, but then realized that everyone in the student council would throttle him if he used that word. "Young Adults we are incapable of making decisions that _really _matter. But we would like to start small."

He took a well needed breath.

"We propose that instead of the usual field trip we do every year for the school, we try something new." _Because honestly, everyone hates the field trips we take now._

Silence enveloped the room for a minute before Shizune finally spoke. "I see your point. And as long you have _reasonable _request for the school field trip, then I don't see why not."

Even though his face didn't show it, Sasuke's heart leapt. But her next words sent it crashing back down.

"However, I first must take it up to Tsunade. And of course, there is still the problem of who will now plan the school dances, since it seems that the student council is unwilling."

Sasuke coughed. A good negotiator knows that there are times that you can't have it all, and this was one of those times.

"I never said that. The student council is willing to still plan dances , we just wanted to take our jobs a step farther."

"I see." Shizune studied him again. "Take a seat over there, I'll go talk to Tsunade about this."

Walking confidently (a confidence that Sasuke didn't feel) he took a seat and reflected on the past weekend. He wondered if he would even be able to go on the field trip that the teens had planned, he was in so much hot water with Itachi.

Itachi had been furious, at first because Sasuke had gone out with out telling him, and then after he learned of the credit card incident he had been even more angry, if that were possible.

There had been a screaming match until he had wondered why the neighbors hadn't called the police, and then the silent treatment from both of them. During the silent treatment, Itachi had chosen to look at the things Sasuke had bought.

Itachi had stumbled across the candles, which had made him smirk at the cinnamon scented one (unfortunately he knew Sasuke's secret) and raise an eyebrow at the pink one.

"_Soothing Sakura Blossoms_?" Itachi had snorted. "Since when has pink been your favorite color?"

"At least I don't take a bubble bath every Friday night." Sasuke had shot back.

"Oooh, good one little brother, but I'm not the one who still has his ninja turtle collection."

"They could be worth a lot of money someday." Sasuke replied defensively. It was then that Sasuke realized that they were doing the kind of things brothers were supposed to do, waving embarrassing secrets in each others faces, joking. Things that they used to do.

But they couldn't have any brotherly love, because Sasuke didn't love his brother. So he had then changed his attitude to joking into nasty.

Then he had ran upstairs and did something he _never _did. Cried. No, he didn't have some horribly dramatic sobs, but a few bits of water had pricked his eyes. And for Sasuke, those were equivalent to tears.

He hadn't realized how much he missed joking with Itachi.

He was jolted back to the present, as he realized that the only open seat was next to none other then Naruto Uzumaki.

He unhappily plopped down, and pretended like Naruto didn't exist. Naruto was apparently irritated by this behavior, because he chose to force conversation upon Sasuke.

"So how was your weekend?" Naruto asked with obvious fake politeness. Sasuke grimaced as he realized that it would be pointless to ignore him. Naruto would only find some other way to get on his nerves.

_Terrible_. "Not bad. And yours?" Sasuke asked, playing along.

"Great!" Naruto gave him a patronizing smile before he continued talking. "Yep, just perfect. I really wasn't expecting to see you here in line for Tsunade's office. You're such a good kid and all."

"Actually I'm here on behalf of the student council." Sasuke felt pleased that he had pulled one over Uzumaki.

Naruto hid his failure well. "Well who would have guessed?" He asked with a dramatic eyeball roll.

"Everyone but you." Sasuke answered. "And besides, you hardly have any room to talk, seeing as your friend Gaara is _never _at school. Playing hooky?"

"Actually Gaara is an insomniac. Sometimes he's so tired that he's unable to go to school, or he's to mentally unstable." Naruto quipped, as if he were talking about the weather.

_Well this is awkward._

Mercifully the door to Tsunade's office opened and Shizune and Principal Tsunade stepped out. She looked at Naruto without surprise and then looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke Uchiha." She muttered. Her hazel eyes looked him over, as if sizing up and then she seemed to smirk.

"Are you guys friends or something?" Shizune asked, with some amusement in her voice. _Oh no, oh no. _Sasuke knew that it was coming but he still grimaced when Naruto took advantage of it.

Naruto elbowed Sasuke in the ribs as if they were friends. "Yep. Best buds. Inseparable." Naruto chirped. Sasuke shoved his arm away and gave a small growl. Tsunade gave an amused chuckle.

"I see." Shizune muttered.

Tsunade turned her gaze back to Sasuke. Her eyes studied him a moment before she spoke.

"The student council's request has been granted. As long as they keep up the original duties assigned to them."

"Yes ma'am." Sasuke replied obediently. There was something about the woman that let him know that she was in charge, and that she was to be respected.

"Alright. You are dismissed." She waved her hand as if it could shoo him away with the breeze it created. Sasuke obediently left the room.

The entire student council was waiting in the hall. He took a deep breath and waited for the bombardment of questions that he knew was coming from his enthusiastic partners.

"So, did we make it?" Tenten asked. Her voice was filled with excitement that she could hardly hold in. Lee was practically hopping up and down on his toes. Ino's eyebrow was raised in expectation.

Shino stood in the background. To those who didn't know him you wouldn't be able to tell that he was anxious but the way he had hunched his shoulders had become familiar to Sasuke. It showed his anxiety and nervousness and perhaps even a little hidden excitement.

"We're in." Sasuke almost smiled, but he wasn't good enough friends with them to show them that. Maybe one day, but right now he didn't feel that comfortable.

TTT

"Here we are again." Tsunade looked pointedly at Naruto. He shrugged innocently and glanced around the office. He knew it by heart already, he had been there enough times. He couldn't count how many times he had been sent to Principal Tsunade's office.

Tsunade looked into the face of the teen in front of her. A cocky smile and three scars on either side of his cheek. She wondered what was going on in that head of his.

"What did you do this time?" She asked with a faint smile. She was used to him, as he was used to her. They were no longer strangers looking at each other on either side of a desk, they were a concerned teacher and a student who needed help. She just didn't know what was hurting him.

"I just …I actually didn't mean it this time." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. Tsunade watched him quietly.

"I didn't mean to get the gum caught inside Anko Sensei's hair. But she was _really, really_ mad." Tsunade could see the face of Anko, probably chucking a desk at Naruto. It was a slightly amusing scene, though Tsunade would never say so.

"You know that I can't let you off the hook. There has to be some form of punishment." Tsunade informed him. He didn't look shocked at all. It was her job, after all to give out punishments for people like him. He didn't mind, not really. She had to do it, and besides in a way it let him know that she cared.

"Three nights of detention." She muttered, writing him a late note and handing it over. Naruto smiled appreciatively. She was letting him off easy, but her easy going was also a warning: Don't let it happen again.

Naruto exited, and not for the first time he wondered exactly who the people in the picture on her desk were. The boy and the man with the long white hair.

TTT

"Like, she said that the color of my nail polish was stupid. Can you believe that?" Kimberly Naston had to be the most annoying girls on the face of the planet, at least that's what Ino believed. But Ino had to bite back her burning retort and find a way to put a smile on her face.

That same plastic, fake smile.

People like Kimberly were self centered and incredibly cruel, and didn't in the slightest care. Ino _hated_ her guts. Unfortunately, Kimberly was supposed to be one of her best friends.

"Don't listen to her. She's a total freak." Ino supplied the answer in a can that she had come up with for almost everyone of Kimberly's crisis'.

If Ino had been a girl that wasn't an achiever, one that didn't care about having it all, then she probably would have been the very same girl who had told Kimberly that her nail polish was stupid as was her fake British accent.

So instead, Ino pretended to be totally interested in what Kimberly was saying. But her mind was way off from the latest fashion gossip.

Briefly the thought crossed her mind that her existence was sad indeed, that she faked almost everything she had in life. But se shoved the thought away. She then proceeded to think an even more depressing thought; Friends were mere tools to be used. Nothing more.

Kimberly made a sound of irritation that forced Ino to pay attention.

"Wow. It's fake boy." She pointed a perfectly manicured hand at none other then Sai. The very same Sai that had once climbed the large oak near the park with her, had shared his lunch when she forgot hers at home, who had played pirates on the bridge near her house.

In other words: Fake Boy.

She stopped, feeling suddenly at ease. Perhaps, she could act like she didn't care with other people. But she knew that Sai could see right through her façade. It was then she was just as fake as him.

Kimberly kept walking and seemed to think that Ino wouldn't follow. Or maybe she didn't think it important that Ino wasn't, either way the end result was Ino. And Sai. Alone.

She expected him to start mocking her, to tell her how she had everyone but him fooled. He didn't, instead he kept smiling.

"So Sai…what have you been up to?" Why was she trying to make conversation? He probably hated her. She had left him for popularity, ignored him because he wasn't "cool." She had stood in the back ground while he was suffering.

"Truthfully?" He didn't have an emotion on his face. Usually just his fake smile. But right now there was nothing.

"I've been better."

Did he just admit that he had feelings? Ino felt hope…and wasn't sure why.

"So, how's your brother?" She wanted to try to keep up the conversation. Sai had always been fond of his step brother, and Ino was sure that he would be more willing to talk about him.

She remembered his brother as being kind and gentle. He would probably be living by himself by now.

"He's dead." Sai said it like they were talking about the lunch schedule. Ino froze inside. The words _dead _kept repeating over and over in her head.

"And you?" Sai asked.

_Dead._

"How's your own family?"

_Dead._

_Dead._

_Dead._

Sai continued chatting about nothing important as if he hadn't uttered those heart wrenching words, as if everything was fine in his world, when it clearly wasn't. Ino couldn't help but feel that this was all her fault.

_Dead._ And it seemed that Sai's emotions had died with him.

"Anyway, have a nice day." Sai told her, before walking down the sidewalk towards his home.

_Have a nice day_, Ino thought bitterly, _Is the most useless phrase in the English Language._

TTT

**So please Leave a review. That was pretty long. Or so it seemed. And for all of you out there, I do in fact collect ninja turtles.**


	11. Cherries and Blood

**I do not own Naruto. Something tells me that I never will. I have just a tad more to add with Sakura and Sasuke's past, but it should be coming soon. I've gotten several questions on when Naruto is going to reveal his sickness. The story still has quite a ways to go, but this chapter does contain that certain part. Also, remember how pointless chapter seven seemed? Well several things that happened there will finally lead to something here.**

**TTT**

Blood. There was blood on the cherries. Sasuke took a step back, but the blood was still there. He ran, but not fast enough. Because his parents were asleep on the ground. He ran to them. He called to them. Begged them to answer. They didn't utter a sound.

They never even breathed.

"NOOOO!" Sasuke screamed. He just heard the sound of the sobs, his and the other, the other person who's face was hidden in the shadows.

"Blood." He moaned. "Blood on the cherries."

Sasuke finally woke up from his nightmare.

TTT

"I cant believe that its been raining for the last couple days." Naruto grumped. Kiba just looked up to the sky, and Naruto wondered briefly if he was going to "howl at the moon."

"I wouldn't worry about it. This time of year it _always_ pours like this." Kiba answered, finally forced to bring out his hood from his jacket. Naruto wrinkled his nose, as rain drops splattered onto his face.

"It's just so annoying." Naruto desperately wished for a hat, or a hood, or heck, even an umbrella. Those things came in handy every now and then, he was reminded. He remembered once having a jousting tournament once with umbrella's. Right before he had been kicked out of the museum.

"Quit your whining. It's just a little water." Kiba never had been very patient when it came to whining. It was one of his pet peeves. People were always shocked that he and Naruto were friends, considering their constant arguments. His sister Hana always answered his father's comment with "Sometimes its boring when people are too much alike."

Kiba and Hana- despite the age difference- were pretty close. Nobody knew him better then Hana, and nobody listened to him like Hana did. She wasn't always tolerant with everybody. Just her little brother.

"Ugh. I just remembered that I have an appointment with Kakashi today." Naruto said with some disgust. Kiba glanced at his friend, and for once didn't see the usual smile, the usual laughter, or the usual passion that was always on his face. The Naruto he was looking at this very moment, seemed a little tired and worn, and defeated.

Asking if Naruto was "okay?" wasn't going to give Kiba an answer. Of course Naruto wasn't okay. He was dieing, from an illness that little was known about. So instead he continued the conversation, as if Naruto didn't have that look on his face.

"Kakashi doesn't seem that bad. I mean, he doesn't act like Mr-Fix-It or anything. He just kind of listens, right?" Kiba wasn't sure of course. He had never been to a therapy session with Kakashi. But he had met Kakashi once, and the man seemed…well he didn't act like a therapist.

No, Kakashi had an attitude that suggested they do anything but talk. Read his book, play Uno, whatever it was at that time. And it made Kiba wonder. You would think at that rate, people wouldn't want to come. But it seemed like, for Naruto, it was the thing that he needed more then a discussion.

"No, Kakashi isn't bad. He's pretty fun actually. He kicks butt at Candy Land."

Kiba didn't even want to know.

"So…" Kiba muttered, in an attempt to change the subject, "Hinata's pretty cool. She's pretty shy though."

Lately Hinata had been spending a lot of time with Naruto and his variety of friends. She sat with them at the lunch table, and lately Sakura had been joining her. Sakura had abandoned most of her other friends (and Kiba was happy. Her other friends annoyed him.) And had decided to join Hinata.

All she ever said about the matter was "You guys are way more interesting."

Naruto snorted and replied "Not when you get to know her. Hinata actually talks quite a bit after a while."

Kiba smiled smugly. The conversation was now going to head over to things he had been wondering about for a while.

"So are you and Hinata…you know…" Kiba prompted. Naruto stared at him with a blank face.

"No Kiba, I don't know."

Kiba coughed. "I thought since you were spending so much time together that maybe…" He left the ending hanging in the air between them. Surely now Naruto would get the whole picture.

"Maybe what?" Naruto asked, just as clueless as the last time Kiba had let the ending go. Kiba and Naruto had stopped on the sidewalk, though neither had really taken note of it.

"That you were, like, a thing." Kiba finally spat it out. He knew he wasn't being extremely obvious, but surely by now Naruto would have caught on. But that was apparently wishful thinking.

"What the heck are you talking ab-"

"Good grief Naruto, could you be any more dense? I'm asking if you and Hinata are dating!" He lost control at the last part and yelled it. Naruto looked more irritated at being called dense then at being yelled at. He had often noticed that he sometimes had that effect on people.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Naruto asked, though his stomach felt weird. Him and Hinata dating? He felt a little nauseous, but it didn't hurt. The feeling was odd and new to him.

"You didn't answer the question." Kiba pointed out. They continued walking, both oblivious to the two mothers who had been watching the conversation with mixed emotions on their faces.

"We're not." Kiba noted that he sounded a little sad, though it could just be the mood Naruto was in at the moment.

"What was so forbidden about the word "dating" anyway?" Naruto asked with some amusement. He became suddenly aware that the rain had stopped, and the sun was actually making an appearance.

"I was trying to be discreet." Kiba replied, leaving his hood on. When he was twelve, he had always worn his hood, and it somehow felt natural. It kind of gave him a pleasant memory of him as a child, playing in the mud with his dog.

"Discreet? Sheesh Kiba, its not like we're surrounded by people."

They were in fact, waiting with about ten other people at a cross walk.

"With anyone that really matters." Naruto amended. The light said 'Walk' so they began their pushing and shoving towards the other side. Naruto stepped on a woman's foot. She was wearing bright purple and lime green, and happened to be sporting orange tennis shoes.

"Watch where your going!" The woman snapped.

"Sorry," Naruto muttered, then turned his attention back to Kiba. "And you didn't answer why you thought that we were. I'd like to know why."

"Did you not care that I was standing there?" The woman continued to fume. Naruto turned his head back and this time said a little louder "I'm sorry." And again turned back to Kiba.

"It's just that you've been spending so much time with Hinata lately. And…I mean…with her your like…happier or something. You seem a little more care free." Kiba wasn't sure how to explain it, but Naruto was different with Hinata.

"'Sorry' he says. I ought to show him sorry!" The woman continued to rant. This time Naruto ignored her.

"Hinata's nice. She lives the world at her own pace, you know?"

"Happens all the time with young people. I cant believe this!" The woman was still yelling. Naruto still refused to turn around and acknowledge her. Kiba was getting a little worried that she was going to do something reckless and stupid, but he kept his eyes on Naruto.

"I hate to break it to you buddy, but I think you might like her."

"Me? Come one Kiba."

"No, I'm serious. I think you're just so oblivious that you haven't realized it."

"Did you not see me standing there? You could have broken my toe!" The woman was yelling loud enough that several people turned around to look.

Naruto turned to face her and in anger yelled back, "It would be impossible for me to not see you standing there, with clothing like that!" The woman looked offended then opened her mouth, but Naruto beat her to it.

"I said sorry, not once, but twice! Either take it, or leave."

"Well I never-"

But Kiba and Naruto were already walking away.

TTT

"So there's some weird lady living inside of the house on possessed hill?" Sakura asked. Hinata had just told her the story of how she and Naruto had ended up in the home of "Lady" Chiyo. Hinata nodded.

"Well that's totally weird. I mean, who would have guessed that someone lived there? Is she a recluse?"

Hinata pondered the question. "I guess. There's no other reason why nobody would have noticed her." She remembered how eccentric old woman had gone on about how lonely she was. If she was lonely, then why did she lock herself up in a rotting house?

Sakura made a small grunting sound as she lifted her backpack. It was insanely heavy, since it contained 3 not so small text books. To add to her discomfort, the school was freezing.

The heater had broke during the weekend, and the only way to stay warm was to bundle. Everyone had looked ridiculous, inside of layers of jackets. The only thing Sakura had been carrying with her was her sweater. As nice and fuzzy as it was, it wasn't going to keep her warm in a building that felt like Antarctica.

She glanced down at her sweater. Maybe it was about time that she got rid of it. It was her favorite, but she was reminded of last year when Kimberly Naston had made a rather biting remark about it.

"You know Haruno," Kimberly said in a voice like cream. "If you keep wearing that sweater people will mistake you for a marshmallow with fur."

Other girls might have ran to the bathroom and cried. Other girls might have been at a lack of words. But if there was one thing Sakura Haruno never was, it was speechless.

"Well Kimberly," Sakura shot back, "I find it preferable to looking like my face has been through a meat grinder."

It wasn't true of course. Kimberly looked like she had just stepped off a runway. But it had given Sakura some inner satisfaction, and the look on Kimberly's face had been totally worth the rude and cruel comment.

Kimberly hadn't bothered her after that. Oh sure, there was the expected gossip behind her back, rude gestures and facial expressions. But never again did Kimberly mock her to her face. And for that, Sakura felt proud.

"Did you see Choji today?" Sakura asked suddenly. Choji had been absent from her History class that she had with him. It was odd not seeing the slightly plump boy.

"Yeah. He had a doctors appointment." Hinata replied. Her face scrunched up as she considered the threatening clouds. It had been raining earlier, but it had cleared up some. The sun was poking little holes through the clouds and peering down at the earth. It was as if it was shyly saying hello.

_Hello_, Sakura said back. And then she froze. Because not more then ten feet away was Sasuke Uchiha. She had watched him from afar, but never this close. And looking at him so near, she could see the resemblance to his childhood self.

Same dark hair. Same onyx eyes. A different attitude. The way he walked reminded her of cherries and blood.

She fled. She couldn't talk to him, couldn't even look at him. No matter how much she wanted to walk over and say hello, the pain and awareness held her firmly back. She ran. And ran. And ran.

TTT

Kiba raised an eyebrow. Not thirty minutes earlier he had been talking to Naruto about the same dark haired girl that now stood in front of him.

"Have you seen Sakura?" she asked anxiously. Kiba shook his head.

"Why would we? What's wrong?" His brow was furrowed with concern. Naruto popped up behind him, muttering to himself.

"Crazy lady. And what was with her clothes?" He stopped when he saw Hinata. Then began to talk a mile a minute.

"Hinata? Iseverythingalright?You'reokay?Nothingswrong?Whyarentyouanswering?" He took a well needed breath. Kiba just shook his head. Naruto was Naruto. You just couldn't change him.

"Everything's fine. I'm fine. I was just wondering if you saw Sakura. She ran over here. She looked upset." Hinata nervously squished her fingers. What had happened? One minute Sakura had been staring at the clouds with a daydreaming expression, the next she was running as fast as she could.

And Hinata couldn't keep up.

Naruto looked relieved and then slightly worried. "She just ran off?" Kiba looked up and sighed.

"Relax. I'll look for her. If we cant find her then call her tonight. You two stay here." Hinata wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a look pass between the two boys. She was suddenly on her guard. She forced herself to relax. This was Naruto and Kiba. They were her friends. She could trust them.

After Kiba left, Naruto turned to face her. There was no laughter in his face. There was no smile. His eyes locked solemnly to hers and she knew that this must be important.

"Walk with me?" He asked softly. She was hesitant; that was the wrong word. Afraid. Afraid that something was wrong.

"Kiba said to stay here."

"We'll be back soon."

She followed him. There was silence, but not the relaxed kind that they were used to from one another. This silence was different.

"Hinata…I have to tell you something." Hinata felt her breath quicken. Naruto was acting weird. She wasn't sure she wanted to listen, but she couldn't run away. Not from him. Not from Naruto.

"I…I was born with this disease…its called the Jinchuuriki disease."

Blood pounded through her veins.

"We…Jinchuuriki that is….got through different stages of sickness. Nicknamed "tails." There are nine tails…"

She wasn't hearing this. This wasn't happening. Not to Naruto. Please, she begged, not to Naruto.

"And I'm on the ninth tail. Hinata…I'm dying."

NO! She wanted to scream it to the entire world. NO! This wasn't _fair. _This wasn't right.

"Dying?" She rasped. "You cant die." She was trembling.

"We all die in the end Hinata."

It was then that Hinata passed out.

TTT

**Please remember that now that school has started for me, I will no longer have as much time to update. None of my stories will be abandoned, just more infrequent updates. Also I am now adding titles to my chapters. So until next time**

**-Mindcaster15**


	12. Milk Break

**I do not own Naruto. Thank you to all who reviewed. The story plot is mine…. There may be confusion on when the story is taking place. When Hinata is in High school it's the present time (2010...0r later if this story lasts another year etc.) Hana's time is futuristic, but only because I didn't want to make Naruto and Hinata in the eighties.**

**TTT**

"Stop!" Hana wailed just as the thunder from the lightning storm boomed. She gave a small wimper and crunched her fingers together.

"Naruto can't be dying! That's not the way that stories are supposed to go!" She gripped her seat and pretended that there weren't any tears threatening to pool in her eyes. In the couple of hours that Aunt Hinata had been telling the story Hana had gotten so attached to the people…she had almost forgotten that they were real.

Real, living, mortal people.

"Perhaps we should take a milk break. You seem to really be getting into it." Hinata murmured as she got up and walked to the refrigerator. Hana tugged at the blanket that had been keeping her warm.

"But you'll continue telling the story, right?" Hana asked. Hinata didn't answer.

"Right?" There was a bit of pleading in her voice, and Hana knew that she sounded like a whiny little girl, but it was important to her. To finish the story, it was…she didn't want to wonder how the rest went down all her life, waiting for Hinata to open up and tell the story once more.

"If you promise to calm down." Hinata handed her the glass of milk. Hana took a small sip. She tried to get reign over her emotions that had previously threatened to spill over. She had always had trouble hiding them.

"It's just…I want to know more about Naruto, and why Sakura ran, and about Lady Chiyo…" Her voice trailed off. "I just need to know." Hinata watched her for a moment.

"Yes. Naruto is likeable is he not?" Hinata gave a mischievous grin that Hana was fairly certain had come from the person in question. Hana gave a slight smile. "What did he look like?"

"Spiky blonde hair. And the most beautiful cerulean eyes. He was…in my eyes…perfect." Hinata snapped out of her happy memory. She returned to Hana, with lilac eyes that held happy memories of a person she loved.

"Aunt Hinata…You were only in high school. And you still love him?" Hana had always heard that young love was one of those things you got over. Aunt Hinata was no longer a high school student. She wasn't even a college student. She was an adult.

"Yes. I think…that there is someone for everyone. And when you find that soul mate there's just no going back. There is simply no one else that you can possibly feel the same way for. And…there was a promise." Hinata gave a small smile. It was very sweet and longing. Hana almost felt like crying.

"Promise?"

"We'll get there." Hinata made a slight clicking sound and sat down next to Hana.

"Lets skip over a little. After I fainted…" Hinata gave a cough. "I was very mad at Naruto. There was some resentment towards each other after that. But to make a long story short, we got over our pride and we were friends again."

Hinata gave a tired sigh. "And that's about when things inside me felt a little funny towards him."

"You started to love him?"

"No." Hinata gave Hana a knowing look.

"But you said that you loved him."

"I did. But it wasn't until later that I loved him. At this moment I started to…what do you young people call it?"

Hana smiled at "young people" she wasn't a young person. She was a child. She knew Hinata was teasing her. "A crush?" she supplied. Hinata gave an enthusiastic nod. Her black hair bobbed up and down and her eyes were bright.

_She's happy to finally be telling someone._ Hana realized. All this time everyone had thought that Hinata hadn't wanted to talk about it. But in reality, it was what she really wanted. But there hadn't been anyone to listen to the silly tale of a shy older woman.

Until a six year old wanted to listen.

"Yes. A crush. But I don't want to get ahead of myself…lets start…."

TTT

The sun was shining. So perfectly, the breeze had the scent roses and children played outside. The park was full, and the day an utterly beautiful one.

Naruto and Hinata were inside playing video games.

"I cant believe you won…again….how often do you play this game?" Naruto asked with some despair. He hadn't one even once. And he knew that Hinata was going easy on him. She was just way to good at this game.

"I used to spend lots of time playing video games." _Before I had friends, there was nothing to do. _"You should see Neji. He plays even more wickedly then I do."

"Neji? Really?" Naruto had finally met Neji and he didn't seem the type. The meeting had been very odd. Neji had given him a cold stare and then "Hhn."

It reminded Naruto of Sasuke. But he told himself that Neji probably was very different…probably a very lively and enthusiastic fellow once you got to know him. It was only a matter of time.

Yeah right.

"He doesn't play much anymore. But when he did, I almost always lost." She gave a chuckle. "He even beat me with Ice Climbers."

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

Hanabi stepped into the room. Her lilac eyes were just a hint darker then Hinata's and her hair just a tad lighter. She bounced over to Hinata, filled with the energy only a child on sugar could have.

"Take me to the park!" She squealed. Hinata shot Naruto a questioning look, and he winked. "We probably should get some air. Besides, it will save me the embarrassment of getting my tail whipped again."

She gave him an appreciative look. As she stepped outside, she saw her father making his way from the driveway to the porch. Home from work early. She gave a resigned sigh as he came up the steps.

"Who are you?" Hiashi demanded, looking straight at Naruto.

"Uh…I'm Naruto…" Naruto found the situation more then a little awkward. Hanabi made a face behind her back that only Naruto caught. He wondered how grumpy Hinata's father was.

"The boy who came over for video games." Hinata nodded. "I see." He gave Naruto one last piercing glare, and then went into the house. Naruto tried not to show his shock. He wondered how someone as sweet as Hinata could be fathered by….him.

"I'm sorry about that." Hinata muttered. Her eyes followed her father into the house, large and questioning.

"Nobody likes him." Hanabi put in. "And Neji hates his guts."

Naruto was pretty sure that Neji hated everyone's guts, but he kept quiet. Hinata shot her sister a look. A warning look, one that warned that she was going to far. Hanabi shook her head. "Well its true isn't it? Neji thinks that Daddy killed Uncle-"

"Hanabi!" Hinata barked. She didn't often raise her voice to her younger sister, but she felt that this was one of those times that Hanabi should keep her mouth shut.

"Did he?" Hanabi asked. "Because nobody ever tells me anything. If daddy killed Neji's dad then why isn't he in jail?" Hinata didn't answer immediately.

"It was an accident." She led her sister by the hand as they crossed the street. Naruto's attention was rooted to the bickering sisters. He couldn't help but be curious, especially with the small bits and pieces that had been dropped like that.

Nothing more was said though. They silently walked to the park and Hanabi soon lost interest in what her previous question had been about. As soon as she saw a friend of hers, she dashed to join in the game of tag.

"Everything is so simple when you're six." Hinata sighed wistfully. Naruto didn't comment. At six, things had been very complicated for him. But there was no need to tell Hinata-or anyone for that matter.

Naruto wasn't planning on telling anybody. _Why not? You have nothing to lose, remember?_

He glanced at Hinata. If he had nothing to lose, then why did he feel like it did when he watched her?

TTT

Sakura stared out the window of her dads office. He was busy with a client, and she had volunteered to answer his phone. Anything to get her mind off of what it had been on lately.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Any other day Sakura would be happy to think of him. But she had thought that she was fine. Then she saw him and…remembered. Remembered a fateful night when a much younger Sasuke Uchiha had invited her into his house for hot cocoa.

And his parents were murdered.

TTT

The old man sat with dignity. Naruto sat beside him, staring in the general direction that the man was looking. He saw nothing spectacular. Just a bunch of geese fighting over bread that some child was tossing to them.

The man was odd. He looked ancient, and yet Naruto knew he was still a fighter. He could see it in the way the man held his head, the way his eyes challenged his surroundings.

"Everyone has a story." The old man said. Naruto blinked. "Excuse me." A smile passed the mans lips. He didn't even look at Naruto, choosing instead to watch the geese fight over such a worthless thing that they gobbled up without any hesitation.

"You heard me. Everyone has a story." Another pause. Naruto had an inkling that it was for dramatic effect.

"It takes someone to listen though. You may not know when someone is hurting."

This time Naruto looked farther and saw Hinata. She was standing on the bridge, staring down into the water. It was eerie, the way it looked like it was captivating her. Her hair blew in the wind. She looked up, as if sensing that someone was watching her.

_Creepy old guy._ Despite the oddness of the situation, Naruto still got up. If Hinata was upset he wasn't going to let her just stare at water. He was here, if she needed to talk to someone.

She looked up when she saw him crossing the bridge. "I can see Hanabi from over here." she explained. "She's swinging. I just had to get away from all those glaring mothers. It was like they could see right through me."

"Hey, its okay. What's wrong?" he didn't even think about the oxymoron he had just said. Hinata bit her lip to keep from giggling.

"Oh Naruto. You always cheer me up." She turned bright red. Was he noticing her blush? What had she just said? She made a small gulping sound, looking something like a fish as she tried to get a hold of her breath.

"Are you going to faint again?"

"Lets use the words pass out." She raised her eyebrows. "Faint sounds like I'm some damsel trapped in a tower waiting for my prince to save me. In truth…I'm just Hinata."

Naruto tried to come up with something to say. A good friend would have just the thing that would make Hinata feel happy again.

He slammed his fist into his palm. He was just so _worthless._ Why couldn't he do this one little thing for her? She deserved it didn't she? Why couldn't he find the words…

"Hinata…that's what makes you so wonderful. That you aren't some damsel in distress. You ARE Hinata. Be proud of that."

Gosh, that sounded so lame. He could just bite his tongue off at the rate he was going. What was he trying to do? Get her to jump off the bridge?

"Naruto…" He heard a sniffle. A few tears plopped into the water below them. _Well that's just great Naruto. You made her cry._

"Thank you." A small choking wail got caught in her throat. He patted her on the back. As atrocious as his prep talk had been, she was still appreciating it. That was Hinata. She was more tough then people took her for.

"Come on. We need to stop Hanabi. She's biting another kid." Hinata grinned up at him, and he couldn't help but grin back.

She had that effect on him.

TTT

**Gosh that was the lamest chapter I've ever written…please leave a review…**


	13. What Are Friends For?

**I do not own Naruto. Please forgive me for not updating sooner….**

**TTT**

Hinata Hyuuga had been 12 years old when she officially had gone into her shell. Sure she was shy before, but nothing like the stuttering and over shyness she would develop later. But unknown to her, it was this one night, this one simple night, that would change her from the sweet shy girl into a terrified teen who was afraid of making friends.

She had been invited to attend a play. The girl that had invited her was named Madeline.

She was so happy. To be invited by someone-possibly a friend-hadn't happened since she was little. She spent hours choosing her clothes. Practicing introducing herself. Worrying and wondering if she would look like an idiot.

When she got to the school no one was there. She sat in the auditorium for an hour. No one showed up.

There Hinata was, in black and purple striped tights, black Mary-Jane's and a purple graphic tee. Something she had chosen carefully and meticulously. But no one was there to see it.

A janitor walked up.

"Are you lost sweetie?"

"No…I'm just waiting for the play to begin…." She knew in her heart that the play would not begin. There was never a play to begin with.

The Janitor gave her a pitying smile. Hinata fled the building.

The next day at school Hinata couldn't stop staring at her feet. It was all she could do not to cry. And Madeline just giggled.

And from then on she couldn't approach people, and people just sort of ignored her. She became invisible. Not a friend in the entire world. It was like people saw right through her.

TTT

Temari hopped out of her pickup truck and gave Hinata a grin. Hinata tried to hide a smile. Most girls would have chosen a small and cute car for their vehicle. Not Temari. She had chosen the monstrous pickup truck and had been proud about it.

Hinata could still hear Temari say proudly "People are going to move off the street for me."

Hinata slid into the passenger seat, buckled, and stared straight ahead. Temari laughed.

"Its just a carnival. I cant believe you've never been to a carnival! This is going to be so much fun!" Temari drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as they almost slammed into the sidewalk. Hinata cringed. Whoever had given Temari a license to drive needed to rethink it.

"So Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, you and me-leave my grammar alone- are coming. Sakura cant come because she was busy with work. She really wanted to though." Hinata exhaled as they didn't die. Temari had just ran a red light.

"Sounds like fun. You do have your license with you?" Hinata wasn't sure how they could be going so fast without going above the speed limit.

"Yeah. Why?" Temari glanced at Hinata. Her bluish green eyes sparkled with mischief. With her four pigtails, crimson dress, and black boots, Hinata would never have thought to become her friend.

"Just in case a cop pull us over. You ran a red light." Hinata couldn't think of a way to jump around the bush in this subject. But it hardly mattered, she didn't think that Temari would be offended. It took _a lot _to offend Temari.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." She wasn't being sarcastic. She really hadn't noticed that she had ran a red light.

"And anyway, we're here."

TTT

"It's very big." Hinata commented. And it was. Huge. She had been expecting something smaller, and then wondered why she had. Naruto gave her a weird look.

"Of course its big. You really have never been to a carnival?"

"No. My family isn't really the…family time at carnival type." She shrugged, and tried to think of something to say. She shouldn't have worried about it. Naruto always found a way to make the situation less awkward.

"So what are we going to do first?" He spread his arms out like the entire world was his for the taking. Hinata gave a shy shrug. Gaara remained silent as normal. Temari gave an exasperated sigh. "Honestly you guys. Why don't we ride the rides first, then eat lunch at like twelve, play games and spend the rest of the time doing what we want."

"Sounds fine." Shikamaru yawned and looked uninterested in the going ons around him. Hinata was starting to get that there wasn't much he cared enough about to get him excited. His dark eyes roamed observationally, and she could detect a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Alright then!" Naruto stuck his fist in the air, and several people turned to look at him. Hinata laughed softly.

The air was chilly, since it was October. The five of them tramped out into the throng of people, Pushing their way to the good rides. Hinata was being pulled by Naruto and she found herself in a line. Naruto grinned at her.

Gaara gave Naruto a level glance. "Naruto…" He glanced at Hinata. "Not everyone likes roller coasters." Hinata gave a gulp and glanced up just in time to see the roller coaster take off and people scream in fear and delight. It was monstrous and fast, and Hinata couldn't even fathom getting on it.

"Oh yes!" Temari yelled. "This is so getting ridden by me."

Hinata felt lightheaded. She wondered if she was going to faint. Naruto patted her shoulder. "Its okay. It doesn't go upside down or anything. Its just really fast and really high up there."

Hinata looked nervously into his prankster eyes. "I have never been on a roller coaster in my entire life. And you want me to ride that monster?"

"It's not as bad as it looks." Naruto promised. Gaara shook his head. "Hinata don't ride it if you don't want to." Shikamaru shrugged. "None of us will hold it against you."

Hinata bit her lip. They were probably right. After all it was just a ride. It wasn't like she really would be flying out of her seat or anything. She tried to think if she had ever heard of anyone dying of a roller coaster, but couldn't think of one. Maybe it was safe.

Her courage wavered a little when she saw a man selling insurance towards the beginning of the line.

"You're positively sure that its safe?" She squeaked out. Naruto nodded. "Nothings going to happen. Listen, I'll even sit next to you. If you can get scared you can squeeze my hand or something, and I wont tell anyone." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Alright." She tried to still the flopping in her stomach, but didn't succeed. The butterflies kept flapping faster and faster as they moved up in the line. Hinata wasn't even on the roller coaster and she was squeezing Naruto's hand. She felt her breath come in short and fast puffs.

"Slow and deep," Naruto coached.

The gates opened up and they moved to find a spot. There was two per a seat, and Hinata sat right next to Naruto. She saw Gaara in the seat ahead of them, sitting next to a random stranger. Temari and Shikamaru sat behind them.

She heard Shikamaru yawn and watched as Gaara opened a package of Jelly beans. He popped one into his mouth, and the roller coaster started.

TTT

"I cant believe I rode that!" Hinata wailed. Naruto threw his head back and laughed. "It's not funny!" She cried out through her smile. "You told me it wouldn't be scary!" Naruto gave a choked chuckle as he tried to control his laughter.

"It wasn't! I heard you laughing the whole time!" He replied, wiping tears from his eyes. Hinata blushed, but still countered. "That was laughter of a person going insane with fear!"

"Was not. That was definitely laughter full of mirth." Hinata just pinched the bridge of her nose. And then in a tiny voice she muttered "But it was fun. Kind of."

Naruto gave her a knowing smile. Gaara sighed and if Hinata wasn't mistaken-he rolled his eyes. Temari poked Shikamaru. "I cant believe you fell asleep on that. I would never have believed it except that I was sitting next to you."

"All that oxygen was lolling me to sleep." Shikamaru answered. Temari stared at him with some fascination and some annoyance. She wasn't scared of roller coasters, but still, falling asleep seemed a bit much.

They walked to a booth and got some hot dogs. Hinata had her first funnel cake, and learned that although they smelled heavenly, they were rather sickening. They played games to win cheap stuffed animals.

Hinata saw an adorable stuffed fox. It reminded her of Naruto, the way it looked so cute and clever at the same time. She shrugged. She didn't think she could win the little thing. It was one of those shooting games that she was horrid at.

Naruto paid the guy a buck, and picked up the gun. Without even blinking he shot all the random ducks that popped up. He pointed to the fox, and then tossed it to Hinata. She blushed and stammered "Th-th-thank you, you um, you didn't have to-I mean I just-"

He gave her a smile. "You're welcome." She gave him a timid smile, and blushed happily. She hugged the fox close to her chest, as if someone was about to yank it out of her arms.

"I wonder what I should name him?" She thought aloud. Naruto didn't even blink.

"Miso. It's a great name."

"Miso?"

"You know. Like the ramen."

"Ah." Coming from him this made lots of sense. She figured that it was a good name, considering who won him for her. In fact, it was perfectly fitting. Sometimes she wondered if Naruto actually longed to be name Miso himself.

Temari bounded up, Shikamaru following at a less enthusiastic pace. Temari held up a wood carving. "This was on sale! I get to add it to my collection!" She gave a satisfied hurumph. Shikamaru rolled his eyeballs and muttered "Troublesome."

TTT

Ino tugged at her blonde ponytail. Kimberly was jabbering right beside her. They were at a carnival, and still all Kimberly could talk about was her nails and her clothes and her car. Good grief, the girl never stopped.

And today was the day that Ino just couldn't take it anymore.

"I mean, it took forty five minutes for me to do my hair! And now the wind is destroying it!" Kimberly angrily tried to tame her locks that were blowing out of their perfect place. Ino tried to ignore the growing agitation that was building in her gut.

"Why did we come again?" Kimberly asked Ino, her face showing her own agitation. Ino wasn't in the mood to take it.

_I invite her to a carnival and she decides to blame me for bad weather._ Ino couldn't help but think of one thing. That Highschool and your teenage years were the time of your life and here Ino was spending it with morons like Kimberly.

She had been thinking about this for a while, and she had decided that she had had enough.

"You know Kimberly, the last time I cared about what your hair looked like I was twelve and you had it in some hideous fashion.

Kimberly stared at Ino open mouthed.

"So, As fun as this is, I think I would rather go home then listen to you complain for three hours. Have a nice day."

She gave her sweetest smile, and walked away, knowing that she had just committed social suicide. But oddly she didn't care. Something had changed in the last couple months, and for some reason being herself had become more important then what she had originally valued it as.

Looking back, maybe it was fate. But for some reason she saw a boy drawing a picture all alone. And she walked right up to him.

TTT

Hinata pulled her hair back in a pony tail. The day had gone by so fast, she wondered if it even started. Evening was coming and it was time for her to go home. The lights from the carnival winked out.

"This was so much fun. I didn't think carnivals could ever be this fun." Hinata muttered with some wonderment. She looked at her friends. Shikamaru just yawned, Gaara looked amused and Naruto grinned.

"I'm happy you had fun."

Hinata nodded. Temari's pixie face broke out in a grin. "We have to do this again sometime. You are fun to hang around."

"Me?" Hinata half choked half laughed. "But I'm so boring and dull."

"Who told you that?" Naruto asked. He was frowning, something that he didn't do often. Only with his math homework, she mused.

"Oh you know…" Hinata shrugged. Naruto shook his head. "They must have been crazy. I think you're the most interesting person I've met in a long time."

Hinata considered his other friends and wondered how he could possibly say that knowing them. They were all just so much more interesting. How many days had she wished that there was something special about her? How many times had she wished someone would stop and think she was interesting?

She remembered all the kids playing crazy games and laughing together while Hinata stood alone. It was like a rule.

"You may not know it, but you are a very unique and special girl." Temari told her firmly. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"You sound like a teacher." Hinata muttered.

Temari laughed. "But I'm being honest."

Hinata shrugged. She just didn't know what to say.

TTT

When she got home her father was waiting. He gave a awkward cough and then muttered, "Hinata sit down, we have to talk."

Hinata sat. No doubt there was going to be a lecture. Something she had done was not quite up to snuff. Something was wrong with dinner, her clothes were wrong, she wasn't making good enough grades.

Instead her father said "Your mother wanted to make sure that…eh…you were hanging with the right crowd. I know, we trust you fully but she just wanted make sure you made the right decisions."

There was an awkward silence.

"Is that it?" Hinata asked, trying to hide the giggles that were about to break lose.

"Yes."

Hinata got up and ran to her room. As soon as she shut the door she began to laugh. She loved her father, but that had to be the worst good choices speech anyone had given their daughter.

When Neji asked, she just shrugged and broke out into more giggles.

TTT

**This is like the half mile point. I'm almost there! I know, it seems like a silly chapter, but after this one things will be speeding up a little. **


	14. The Haunted Theatre

**I do not own Naruto. Thank you to all who reviewed! **

**TTT**

He could pretend that when she smiled he felt nothing. That every time she looked at him with those moon eyes his heart didn't beat faster and he didn't feel suddenly warmer. He could pretend that every time the sun shone on her black hair the world didn't seem to spin a little.

He could tell people that she was just a friend to him, and that they didn't see each other that way. Did she think the same way?

One thing he could do was lie. He hated lying, in fact, all his life he had been bluntly honest. But this…this wasn't the same. You could lie to a human being and deceive them. But you couldn't lie to yourself. In the end the truth would always come back to haunt you.

TTT

"Heh. I win again." Kakashi eye grinned at Gaara and Naruto. The Candyland board lay before them, Kakashi's playing piece at the part that read the words "End."

"You have got to be kidding me." Naruto looked at the board. He wasn't even half way through.

"Doesn't matter to me." Gaara laid back in his chair. "It's a juvenile game based on luck." He pulled a bag of jelly beans from his pocket and tossed it to Kakashi.

"Your reward." There was a hint of mockery in his voice, but Kakashi just happily took them. He slipped them into his pocket, knowing full well that Gaara had done it as a favor to Naruto. Naruto had been trying for a year to get Kakashi to unmask himself.

Gaara shrugged at Naruto. He had tried. Naruto gave a slight moan and flopped back on the couch. They hardly ever actually talked in Kakashi's sessions. Kakashi was good enough to tell what they were thinking without having to sit in a red chair and yammer.

It was something they both appreciated. Gaara wasn't very talkative and Naruto just felt uncomfortable discussing his problems. Kakashi didn't say it, but he liked the two of them the best. They were the best at not being uncomfortable around him.

"Why do you hide one of your eyes?"

They also didn't mince words. Kakashi turned to look at Naruto.

"What do you care?" Naruto smirked. "Sorry. Just curious." He shrugged his shoulders.

TTT

"I wonder what I should go as for Halloween." Sakura mused aloud. She flipped pink hair from her face and turned her vibrant green eyes to Hinata. "You're so lucky. There are tons of things that match your features."

Hinata snorted. "I don't have pink hair! Don't give me that!" She made a face at her friend.

"You know what your going as?" Sakura flipped through some homework. Proofs for Geometry. Yuck. She closed the book. She could do the homework later. Probably ten minutes before the paper was due.

"I-er well- I um-thought of something but I just cant-" Hinata was bright red and her voice was getting pitchy. Sakura smirked. She could read Hinata like a book sometimes, others it was more complicated. This was one of those times that Sakura had a good idea what Hinata was thinking.

"You wouldn't happen to somehow be blushing because of a certain blonde with identical scars on his cheeks would you?" Sakura gave Hinata a grin.

"What? NO I WELL MAYBE A LITTLE-" Sakura giggled and then hushed her. "Man when you get flustered you really yell." She glanced at the door. "I'm shocked that my mother hasn't barged in and demanded an explanation."

She leaned in closer. "So tell me what you have in mind. Spill, I wont tell anyone." She pretended to zip her lips. Hinata rolled her eyes at the childish gesture, but appreciated it nonetheless.

"Okay…I-I just thought that it would be really cool if-" She took a deep breath. "I went as the Winter Queen of faerie. But…the Winter Queen needs a Summer King and Naruto would make a perfect Summer King. But I'm scared that people might take it romantically and I'm nervous to ask him…" She shrugged.

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Think of it romantically?"

"What? I-" she paused. "I kind of do. Sort of. But I wouldn't be asking the costumes as a date or anything. He's just…" A deep breath. "I like him…."

"No kidding. Any moron could see that. And since Naruto is that would explain why he hasn't." Sakura twirled in her twisty chair. The ceiling spun around and around. What of her own crush? What of his screams as he leaned over his parents, as the bloodied cherries lay on the floor…

She couldn't. The closer she got to him the more she remembered, and she had spent too many years trying to forget.

"The thing is." Sakura continued to speak, as if her thoughts had never happened, "I think he might like you too." _He needs a nudge. I wonder what it would take? _Sakura would be the one to give him the nudge. She already knew that. She just wondered what it would have to be.

"Y-y-you're just saying that." Hinata nervously squished her fingers. In a desperate attempt to change the subject she yelled "I know!"

"Huh?" Sakura raised a pink eyebrow at her friend. "What do you know?"

"You could go as a pirate. In a pink and red costume." Hinata's eyes were excited. "I could make the outfit! I mean, I'm making my dress so I could make your pirate costume too! Something really nice!"

"You think?" Sakura was warming up to the idea. Although it wasn't very original a pirate could still be cool. If it were made right she could look very…sea like?

"Kiba and Gaara mentioned that they were going as 1920's gangsters. We'll all look so odd together." Sakura giggled.

They weren't going to have a Halloween party or trick or treating. But they all agreed that dressing up was fun. So everyone was going to have pizza and watch a movie. Dressing up was just more the fun.

Hinata glanced at the time. "I have to go. Thanks for having me over Sakura." She slipped off her bed and trotted out the door, gave a little wave, and disappeared.

TTT

"Yes?" Lady Chiyo peeked out her door. Naruto gave her a grin and the woman's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She ushered him in, and in a flash shut the door behind them. It banged with finality, and Naruto grimaced inwardly.

"Here, I brought you some flowers." He handed her the flowers that he had picked from his neighbors garden. He was pretty sure that Mrs. Windlen wouldn't mind. Probably. It hardly mattered now.

"Why, Sir Naruto! Thank you!" She happily picked up the flowers and sniffed them. She snorted so hard that they sucked up to her nose. Naruto made a coughing sound, trying to hide the fact that he found the entire situation awkward.

"You don't have to call me 'Sir.' Really. Naruto is just fine." He hoped he wasn't offending her. She seemed so fragile and old, but in truth, how could she really? She had survived as a recluse for who knew how long. That wasn't weak, not in Naruto's opinion.

"Oh? I guess not. Young people are like that I suppose." For a brief instant, Naruto saw a Lady Chiyo that wasn't crazy. A lonely, perhaps even bitter, old woman who escaped away from reality in order to escape her pain.

"I didn't mean to offend-"

She waved the apology away. "Nonsense. You should have a say in what you're called. Don't let an old woman get in your way."

Her usually childish eyes were heavy with emotions-and deep with pain that life had caused her. What was her story?

Everyone had a story it seemed. Kakashi, with his one eye that he didn't speak of. Lady Chiyo and her painful memories, Principal Tsunade with her picture of the two people she never mentioned on her desk, Neji with a dead father, Sakura with that haunted look running away from everyone.

Hinata. Him. Everyone had a sad story of some sort. Some were more heart wrenching then others, but it didn't diminish the fact that somewhere everyone in life had a sad story that they kept secret in their hearts.

Because you couldn't go through life without pain.

"Naruto? Are you there?" The naïve Lady Chiyo was back. The serious and solemn one was forgotten and put behind her.

"Yes. I'm sorry, I was kind of distracted. I don't have a long attention span." He replied truthfully. It was true. He couldn't focus his attention on one thing for very long. Eventually something else caught his interest.

It was a trait that Iruka loathed. He would ask Naruto to do the laundry, and Naruto would be happy to do it. If only he could remember.

"It's fine dear, just fine. And where is Lady Hinata? Should I call her Hinata as well?" Her brow furrowed.

"Hinata is fine. How have you been?" He wondered how she got food. Maybe he should start bringing over a little extra for her to eat. It would be more useful then flowers.

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" Lady Chiyo winked at him, ignoring his question. "I have a friend. She needs help with her movie theater." She gave Naruto a long look. "She just bought it. It's very old. Everyone says its haunted, and she needs workers…"

Her voice trailed off as she paced (very slowly) around the room. Naruto bit his lip. Now there was a person who probably took care of Chiyo. He didn't feel quite so guilty, knowing that someone checked up on her.

"And where is this place?" He asked. He tried to think of old movie theaters around town.

"Near the old mall, dear."

TTT

Hinata, Naruto, and Gaara stared at the run down theater. It looked deserted-and dare they say-creepy. It had obviously not been used in a long time, and they didn't see anyone around who would be keeping it up.

"I love it." Gaara responded immediately. "Perfect place for me to work." Hinata stared uneasily at him. Naruto gave a grin. "I bet its awesome on the inside!"

She really wasn't so sure. And Lady Chiyo had things mixed up all the time. This could have been years back when she was…in her right mind.

There was a pounding on the window. Hinata gave an earsplitting scream, Naruto jumped. Gaara calmly turned his head toward the noise. Through the window, a woman around the age of 45 stared back at them.

"Think you could vandalize my theater did you?" She shrieked. Her hair was a brown color, but right now it stood in all different directions. Her eyes were wild from a lack of sleep, and her clothes were rumpled.

"You wont lay a hand on the Never Theater!" She yelled at an even more hairsplitting volume. Hinata cringed. Naruto hopped out of the car.

"Actually…we've come to talk about work…" He wasn't quite sure how to approach the woman. She was obviously not very patient.

"Work?" She calmed down immediately. Her eyes softened a little to show that they were actually quite friendly. Her hair still stood up, but at least now she looked half way sane.

"Very interesting." Gaara said evenly.

"Yes…We were told by a Lady Chiyo that you needed some help…" His voice trailed off again. He wasn't very good at engaging intelligent conversation in front of people who intimidated him.

"Chiyo! Thank goodness she came through! Yes!" The woman pulled Naruto into a crushing hug. "You are my dream come true!"

"I wouldn't go that far." Gaara muttered.

TTT

As it turned out, she wasn't crazy and her name was Ronda Lane. She had bought the theater several months ago, and though it was renovated, she only had a hired staff of two.

"I've been working night shifts and most of the day time shifts. I just don't have any time to do anything for myself. Not even sleep!" Her eyes watered a little. Naruto uncomfortably rubbed his neck.

"I don't suppose, you being in school and all, that anyone could take night shifts?" Her eyes darted frantically to each of them.

"I can. I'm an insomniac so I'm awake all the time." Gaara drummed his fingers. Ronda looked at him, with disbelief. "I'm SAVED!" She yelled. Hinata cringed. "I can work night shifts on weekends." She volunteered.

"How good of you…" Ronda sniffled. "You'll have to forgive me…usually I'm so much more collected then this." She seemed to shrink with happiness.

"You get paid by the hour. Did Chiyo mention that I only show old movies? Things from the fifties and up. I think that kids these days don't appreciate them." She glanced at the three of them. "No offense."

"None taken. She also mentioned…that erm…this place was haunted?" Naruto looked suspiciously around him, as if the ghosts were watching him with their eyes, supernatural daggers ready to stab him.

"Haunted?" She gave a chuckle.

"Naruto is a little superstitious." Hinata informed her. She even found enough courage to add a wink. "Though I don't know why. He's never had a supernatural experience." Behind her Gaara rolled his eyes.

"You don't have too have an experience for ghosts to be real!" Naruto shot back, still looking around nervously.

Ronda held up a hand. "Whoa, slow down! I think what Chiyo was talking about was the original owner of the theater went insane and hung herself." She pointed Nonchalantly to the balcony. "Up there."

Naruto stared at the balcony with narrowed eyes. "I'll work as long as my job doesn't have anything to do with up there." Gaara gave a sigh. It was no use. Logic didn't work against Naruto, since Naruto didn't really even believe (or care) about logic. Telling him that there were no ghosts up in the balcony would be futile.

"Done! You're hired!"

She glanced at them. "Hinata on the weekends you can work Night shifts with Gaara. In the day time I need you working from five to eight." Hinata nodded. She never had homework. That work out perfectly.

"Gaara. I need you to work Night shifts as often as possible. Give me a call if you cant make it."

Her eyes flicked to Naruto. "You can work eight to ten on school days. On weekends I need you to work from 12 to 3 in the afternoon. Hinata you'll be with Ino…and Naruto you'll be with Sasuke."

Naruto blinked. Did she really just…? She did!

"What?"

His yell could be heard for miles.

TTT

**TO BE CONTINUED! Anyway please leave a review. Sorry that I didn't update sooner. My ship in Geometry is sinking and I've been busy.**


	15. Little Things Unsaid

**I do not own Naruto. I realize that for Halloween this story is late. You'll have to forgive me, and if you cant then you'll have to just get over it. **

**_OoOoOoO_**

_"Birds Fly Over the Rainbow_

_Why, then oh why_

_Can't I?"_

_-Somewhere Over the Rainbow_

There was a pink and red (very well) dressed pirate, Two 1920's gangsters (one looked a little more scary then the other) and one space martian (Lee had joined them.) There also happened to be one very beautiful Winter Faerie Queen. She had a white dress that looked very queenly. It had white glitter and her hair was curled and let loose. This gave it a wild and exotic look that was worthy of a fairy.

She also had a Summer King. Dressed in orange, and looking sun kissed and, well, very summer king like. Naruto grinned at his "queen" admiring the work she had done on the costumes. How had she managed this kind of stuff? He doubted that when it came down to it, most girls couldn't sew beautiful dresses, or cook intricate dinners.

Also, it was odd, but he had noticed that lately she had been smelling really good. Not that she hadn't before…but now…now he suddenly started to notice. It was rather bothersome, and he knew what it meant. That he had the dreaded crush.

Which begged the question if he should ask her out on a date or not. He decided to forget the question and ponder it later, and instead enjoy the party. He turned, feeling eyes on him. Gaara was staring at his back, eyes steady.

Naruto shrugged and smiled. Gaara just shook his head and gave him the look 'don't try that with me.' Naruto shook his head, suggesting they talk about it later. Gaara's eyes didn't waver.

"Naruto!" Sakura bounced up giving him a wicked grin. "We're about to vote on a movie. You coming or what?" He felt that something was up. Sakura had been unusually nice to him. He couldn't help but be suspicious.

They all settled down on the beanie bags and Sakura began to throw out movies (rather unceremoniously.) She had been sitting next to Naruto when she muttered "I think I want to sit next to Gaara."

Hinata was now sharing the beanie bag with him, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nervous. She smiled sweetly at him, oblivious to his inner turmoil.

"So what's the vote?" Sakura asked.

"Those aren't even scary." Kiba complained, opening up a fun sized Kit Kat. Gaara snatched a Snicker bar before he could grab that too. He glanced mournfully into the jar of candy. "Do you have any jelly beans?"

"Will you two focus?" Sakura asked, frustration laced in her voice.

"But none of them are scary!" Kiba pointed out again. He grabbed a Twix just before Gaara, and Naruto saw the gleam in Gaara's teal eyes. He apparently saw the action as war.

"I really don't have any scary movies." Sakura confessed. She looked slightly annoyed at Kiba, and Naruto had the feeling that later she would somehow extract some sort of vengeance. He rubbed the spot on his arm where she usually punched him, happy that he wasn't Kiba.

"Fine." Kiba gave a sigh and studied the movies set in front of him. "Uh…Bourne Identity." Sakura raised her eyebrows and everyone nodded in confirmation. She slipped the DVD into the player, then turned off the lights.

Naruto noticed that even in the dark, Hinata's pale eyes seemed to glow. It was eerie, he thought, that her eyes could be such a translucent color. She turned her head and glanced at him.

"Naruto, are you alright?" She whispered, face creasing into a frown. He tried to shrug nonchalantly. "Uh, yeah, you know…Just cold." He gave her a smile and tried to shake her worried look off. She gave him one last probing glance before turning her attention back to the screen.

"You know…I've been thinking…" She whispered after a couple minutes of tense silence, broken only by the occasional scream of someone getting shot in the movie.

"Hmm?" He asked.

"Well, Sakura really has been wanting to visit Lady Chiyo lately, you know, meet her. I think it would be nice if we went to go see her before we all dispersed." She ducked her head, as if expecting to be ridiculed.

"That sounds great. Lady Chiyo certainly needs more friends…though eventually we need to find some more her age." Hinata gave him a happy/embarrassed smile, and poked Sakura in the back, whispering her plans.

He fidgeted, suddenly antsy. The room was getting hot, and he was feeling claustrophobic. He glanced at Gaara, and noticed that his friend was having a similar reaction. Gaara kept shifting positions on the beanie bag, something he rarely did. Once Gaara sat down, he sat like that for the rest of the time required. Naruto felt a pain began to pull in between his eyes. It was familiar, like the pain you felt when your foot was cramping. He grimaced, knowing exactly what it meant. Breathing in sharply, he excused himself from the room.

Immediately he felt more cool and less claustrophobic, but the pain didn't go away. Instead it progressed down his arms, making him break out in a cool sweat. Gaara soon joined him in the room, and Naruto could see it wasn't good.

"Soooo tired," Gaara groaned, glaring at the floor. He was already getting moody and Naruto couldn't afford for him to lose anymore sleep at the moment. His friends was like a grouchy monster when he got sick.

He grabbed him by the shoulders and looked Gaara in the eye. "Go home." He said firmly, trying to get the message across loud and clear. Gaara nodded, understanding that if he didn't leave soon his friends would probably never do anything but fear him.

He left out the back door, quietly. Naruto knew that as a child, Gaara had been bitter and angry at the fact that no one would be his friend. He had been to willing to fight, and his anger often got the best of him. Being rejected, was a reason that Gaara held many people at an arms length away. There was a certain few who he trusted wholeheartedly. Naruto was one of those people.

"Naruto?" He glanced behind him to see Hinata in the doorway. She sounded frail and a little scared, and he wondered if she had been listening in.

"It's fine. Listen, I'm going to have to go home…you can take Sakura to Lady Chiyo's, right?"

She nodded, trying to look a little brave. Naruto gave her a reassuring smile, trying not to let her worry. "Everything is fine. I'm just in need of a good nights sleep." She nodded again, still looking a little worried. She went back into the room, where Jason Bourne was currently dodging bullets.

He sighed. The pain was spreading. He needed to get home and grab some medicine.

**OoOoOoOo**

Naruto handed the soda and popcorn to the odd couple, and noticed their tickets. He hoped that they weren't looking for an especially sappy romantic movie, Because "Rear Window" had murder, with only a hint of romance.

Though he had at first been a little skeptical, he had come to appreciate how cool the old theme of the theatre was. It only showed old time films, and there was Lois Armstrong playing in the background. He grinned whenever he heard some of the lines from the movies that were somehow loud enough for him to hear from his place in the snack bar. Across from him Sasuke unemotionally ran the ticket sales.

He had actually been rather shocked at busy it was. He hadn't been expecting so many customers, and he admitted that it certainly made it less boring. He was happy that the theatre was so successful, as it deserved to be.

Across from him, Sasuke was having the same sentiments, though he kept his locked inside, instead of the happy laughter that Naruto indulged in. His next customers was a dark haired, pale skinned boy with a blonde haired blue eyed girl who looked exactly like…

"Ino?" He asked, almost a little disbelieving. She gave him a grin. "Oh, Hey Sasuke. You work here? That's pretty cool." She blushed suddenly. "Oh! Hey, sorry about that." She pointed to the boy next to her. "This is my boyfriend, Sai. And this is Sasuke…he's president of the student council."

Sai gave him a smile (it really was rather odd looking) "Nice to meet you." He had a very clear and distinct voice, though Sasuke could feel that it was very analytical.

"Yeah, you too." He replied, keeping his cool. He secretly wanted to jump up and down and weep with joy over the fact that Ino wouldn't be chasing him for a while. Though, he reflected, she never actually had with much vehemence. He felt that maybe it eventually had stopped meaning anything at all to her.

"Anyway, we need two for 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.'" She informed him. He rang them up, then gave them his trademark (but quickly growing old) "Enjoy the movie."

He watched them go, with some confusion and amusement. He had never seen Sai before, and for some reason he had always thought that Ino only dated guys that she could get something out of. Money, more popularity, but this Sai definitely couldn't be counted as such.

Was it possible she actually liked the guy, and because of it had said yes? The thought intrigued him, and shockingly made him happy for her. Though he had never had an interest for her romantically, he had seen her and the rest of the student council as his friends.

He glanced at the list of movies playing that day. "Rear Window," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Vertigo," "The Lady Vanishes" and lastly "Gone With the Wind."

He had always wanted to see "Gone With the Wind" but had either been to embarrassed to ask Itachi to rent it, or had not had the time. He wondered if maybe Ronda would give him a discount if he wanted to see it?

He snapped out of his thoughts when Naruto's face suddenly appeared before him. He glared icily and snarled "What do you want?" Naruto gave a satisfied grin.

"Just seeing if you were alert. You looked kind of spaced there." He gave an irritating wink before heading back to the snack bar. Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to control and conceal his anger. Naruto did these things just to annoy him. He would be getting satisfaction if Sasuke let loose, and possibly in the end fired.

Naruto set back at the snack bar and observed Sasuke. He was certain that Sasuke didn't think him smart enough to know that he was annoyed, but Naruto knew better. Whenever Sasuke closed his eyes like that it was a sign that he was frustrated.

"Well you certainly know how to entertain yourself." Konan, was stalking the shelves with some cotton candy. She had been hired soon after Naruto had, and worked the snack bar with him. For the most part, she kept to herself and on occasion would make a sarcastic remark.

She got along well enough with Naruto, and every now and then they would have some odd conversations. She had blue hair, and though Naruto had never seen her out of the uniform they were required to wear, he had the feeling that she was Goth.

"Yeah, well, He's easy to anger." Naruto replied, drumming his fingers on the cash register. In all honesty, he was running out of things to do that would irritate Sasuke. It was a rather sad feeling. Usually he had more then enough pranks up his sleeve.

Konan just snorted and kept stacking the cotton candy.

Bored, Naruto tried to keep himself busy with the pretzel machine. He reminded himself that it wouldn't be "work" if it was fun. And he comforted himself with the fact that Gaara probably had it worse then him. Night time was probably fairly slow.

Thankfully, he saw someone walk in. To his surprise it was Hinata. She happily trotted up to him. She was carrying a rather large treat bag, filled to the brim with candy.

"Um…When you left the other night you left this." She scooted it towards him, self conscious because of Konan.

"Thanks!" He beamed. They stared at each other awkwardly, and Hinata finally muttered, "I have to go."

"Uh…yeah…stay safe." Naruto replied, knowing how lame he sounded. As Hinata left, he felt Konan stare at him with a somewhat bemused expression on her face.

"What?" He asked.

"Boys," She snorted, rolling her eyeballs. "Are so stupid."

**OoOoOoO**

**My eyes….they burn from being on the computer this long…anyway please leave a review.**


	16. Frostbite

**I do not own Naruto. I was looking over this story, and I feel rather embarrassed. The grammar and spelling isn't very commendable. Please bare with me, and continue reading!**

**OoOoOoOo**

Neji stared unbelievingly at Tenten. It was Friday, or in Neji's mind, the day he picked up groceries for Hinata. In truth, he just wanted to see Tenten. He would visit for almost a half hour with her, trying to avoid her manager.

Of course, Hinata thought that he was just being polite and chivalrous. She also seemed to believe that he had come to some sort of change of heart, that he was having…what do you call it? Some kind of epiphany. It wasn't true, he was still the same old Neji…but he would let her believe what she wanted. After all, it was rather embarrassing to say that there was this girl he liked to visit with.

And not just any girl. This girl…she wasn't extraordinary or especially great at something. She wasn't exceptionally pretty (though she wasn't ugly.) She didn't have any mouth dropping attributes. She was fit, she had brown hair, brown eyes. She didn't have a voice that sounded like it belonged to an angel. She wasn't the most bright of her class and she played no instruments.

Average.

That's what she was. Pure and simple, Tenten was the most average and unnoticeable person you could ever meet. And yet, at the same time, when she smiled something tugged at him. Of course, not at first. Not all at once. Not spontaneously.

First, it had started with him thinking it was pleasant. Nothing more. People didn't just BAM start liking each other. It happened when he started visiting her every week. It wasn't very much, but when you thought about it, after most of the year, he felt like he had known her forever.

And it seemed like she knew everything about him. His irrational fear of candy canes, that he lived with his Uncle and family since his father and mother's death, that he was a great swimmer. He wanted to be a Doctor, hoped for a scholarship to get into college. He had a dog when he was nine. His favorite book was _The Three Musketeers._

She knew all these things, and he knew everything about her. She knew how to shoot most guns and could wield a knife, she had never had a boyfriend, she was adopted, played basketball when she was younger. She was a really good cook, once had a cat named Commander, hated bubble baths.

So when she had just said that…that… _thing_…well he was utterly shocked. Into oblivion. He could feel a deep sense of loss already settling in, and he desperately hoped that she couldn't read his face. Her own face was strained, and sad, but it held firm.

"I'm quitting my job. And…I don't think…that we'll see each other anymore." Her voice was shaky, but Neji didn't notice. He felt betrayed somehow. He realized that he had been all wrong. The world was disappointing. People were disappointing. Trusting such selfish creatures was wrong. You couldn't trust anybody, no one. Just yourself.

"Neji?" She asked, but he felt far away.

"Why? If its okay that I ask." He could feel the ice in his voice. He was turning into an ice king, and apparently he had frostbite. Because everyone _always _left him.

His father, his mother, his grandparents. His dog even, and now Tenten too. Who was next? Lee? He bit his lip with growing irritation, trying to hold back his frustration and anger. Ice King. Frostbite.

"I…have a problem…" She muttered. "I wish I could give you an explanation…but its just so personal…" her brown eyes pleaded with him to understand, but Neji had stopped understanding long ago. Things like understanding the world, they stopped when you saw your parents zipped up in body bags.

"Right." Neji replied. Ice King. Frostbite.

"Neji…" She sounded upset. Why was she upset? More importantly, why was _he _upset? After all, it was a girl - a girl that had enchanted him, yes - but still a girl. Just one person on this planet he wouldn't see again. Very simple. He needed to cut his losses and move on.

After all, it wasn't like she had wanted to quit. It sounded like she had no choice. Stop being selfish for once and let her go. These things happened. It wasn't like they had even dated.

"Well…um…see you, I guess." He told her shortly. He turned and pretended that he didn't hear her say "Wait, Neji I can explain, hold on." But he didn't hold on. He took quick and precise steps until he was gone and she couldn't see him anymore.

Ice King. Frostbite.

**OoOoOo**

Tenten couldn't see him anymore. He was gone, left, done with her. She sat down slowly, feeling like the most lowly creature that had ever walked the earth. She loathed herself for letting him believe that he meant nothing to her. That wasn't true. He was…her first friend in a long time, and if she had to be honest she had even been feeling like…

No. Stop, she would only feel worse. How had he moved so quickly? It had seemed like once second was there, and in the next his face was blank and then he was just _gone. _Could a person so important to your life be gone just like that? Did people really just disappear?

Tenten was reminded of a book she had once read. The female hero of the story had met a young man who had been rather mysterious. One day after an argument, he had just disappeared and throughout the book the young girl tried to find him.

She was painfully aware that in the end he turned up dead.

She remembered that blank look on his face when she told him that she was quitting. The lack of emotion, as if he had just turned his feelings off. _She _had done that. She hadn't thought she was capable of such cruelty, but at the same time she knew better.

She had to be capable of such things. It was necessary that he never saw her again, she reminded herself. Things would have gotten horribly complicated. It wasn't like she had really expected it to end with a civil goodbye. After all, it had been her own plan to never see him again, and that was what was happening.

Just not like this. She hadn't wanted it to turn out like this.

Feeling heavy with melancholy, Tenten slipped out the door, secretly giving her farewells to the grocery store. It had been a good job, but as usual she had to move on. Story of her life. Things would get complicated and eventually she would trust someone to much and spill her secret. Then, once it was out, it would all be over for her.

And she was never going back. So if it meant that Neji had to disappear with that blank look written on his face, well then, so be it. The secret had to be protected at all costs. She couldn't let her feelings get in the way of such things.

A despicable creature, she was.

**OoOoOoO**

Hinata was refilling the popcorn machine when she heard it. The words "Nevermore," Whispered eerily across the mostly empty lobby. She felt chills crawl down her spine, and instinctively she peered up toward the balcony, the one that Naruto thought was haunted.

"Nevermore" The sinister voice hissed again, echoing through the room. She became painfully aware that she was the only one besides Gaara in the lobby. There wasn't even a movie playing. Gaara wouldn't pull this kind of prank, would he? She shivered. It had to be. There was no such thing.

There was a slight sigh from the voice, as if it were filled with remorse. She backed herself up against the popcorn stand, suddenly feeling foolish for all those times that she had chastised Naruto for his ridiculous assumptions that ghosts were real. She would have found it amusing that in her own case she was suddenly more willing to accept it, except that she was very creeped out.

"Gaara?" She squeaked, begging herself not to faint. She thought that if she fainted she would just die of embarrassment. He didn't answer, and again, she could feel her heart beating so fast that she felt choked.

"My love!" The voice cried in anguish. "I have but no other choice!" There was a silence, and then and earsplitting scream. Hinata screamed even louder, terror making her hands shake and all of a sudden everything became dark because she had squeezed her eyes shut.

The screaming stopped abruptly, and Hinata found that her mouth was open, no sound coming from it. She began to pant heavily.

"Hinata?"

She opened her eyes to find Gaara staring at the her inquisitively, eyes probing curiously. "Are you okay?" A sudden flash of amusement. "Did you think that the ghost?"

She gave another wheezing cough/pant.

"Sorry, this is a bad time to tease. Did Naruto really forget to tell you?" He gave a sigh and a resigned shake of his head. "The film on one of the movies got stuck and tonight I was supposed to fix it…It's a movie based on Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven."" He paused a moment. "Ahem…I see that you unaware I would be playing it."

Hinata gave a little cough that sounded like a wounded animal that was about to be killed. She felt utterly ridiculous and silly, and honestly like a bit of a hypocrite. But the most prominent feeling was that of relief - she wasn't going to be killed by a suicidal ghost.

"Are you going to be okay? I'm sure Ronda would let you go home." He told her, fully aware that she had a record of fainting when flustered. Naruto had told him how scary it was, and really, Gaara wasn't exactly hoping to drive a passed out girl to the hospital.

"F-F-Fin-n-e." She said, giving one last little gasp. He nodded, deciding to trust her. She was honest, she would tell him if she couldn't handle it. Besides, she looked more embarrassed now. He knew that if a girl is embarrassed, you usually leave her so that she can get over her "humiliation."

"Okay then." He said, shooting her one last look. "I'll be working on "Nevermore" if you need me."

Feeling a little better, but still a little unnerved Hinata finished refilling the popcorn machine. The lines from the movie began to echo throughout the theatre once more, and this time she felt that it was…well kind of cool.

"Kill me! I beg you!"

"Nevermore."

She couldn't help but feel intrigued. It sounded like an interesting story. She would have to watch it sometime…without shrieking. She gave a final amused smile. Now that the terror was over, it all seemed so ridiculous that she would be even remotely frightened.

Her shift finally ended, and she began to prepare to leave. She said goodbye to Gaara, blushing a little. Then, she exited and went home.

That night she had a dream. She was dressed in a flowing white gown, in a meadow of green. The sky was flawlessly blue, not a cloud in sight. She felt overwhelmed with the beauty of it all. She was barefoot, and the grass was cool beneath her feet.

Walking a little cautiously, she moved towards the rose bushes on her left. The petals were soft against he skin, and she was rather taken with them. They waved a little in the wind, spreading their scent across the meadow.

But then the words "Nevermore," Started ringing through the field. Spinning around wildly, trying to find the source, Hinata tripped over her rippling gown. The grass pricked her cheek, making it itch.

"Nevermore," Still echoed around.

But then it stopped. Completely. Hinata dared to turn her eyes back up towards the field. She was scared, that once the voices saw her, they would begin their sick and twisted mind games again, whispering that cursed word. She flinched, but nothing happened.

Instead everything went black. It was then that Hinata realized that her eyes were open, and that indeed, it had all been a bizarre dream imagined by her subconscious. She rolled over and tried to forget about it, to go back to sleep.

But it haunted her. The meadow. The Roses. The Sky. Those voices…

It was a while until she fell back asleep.

**OoOoOoO**

The next afternoon after school, Naruto approached Hinata. She was just packing her stuff into her backpack, waiting for Neji to pick her up. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, praying that this would all work out well. He could feel the nervous fluttering in his stomach, making him feel sick. Thoughts whirled in his head, how it wasn't fair to her, how he desperately wanted to do this.

"Hey," She greeted, soft voice friendly and cheerful.

"What's up?" Her eyes scanned his face for answers, wondering if something was wrong. That was just like her. Worrying about someone else. She was so selfless…

"Well, I was wondering, if you know," He stuttered a little, feeling embarrassed. He tried to get control of himself. Where was his usual abundance of confidence? It had deserted him now, left him for this one time he could have _really _used it.

"If you would go to a movie with me."

And there was that second. The second that lasted an hour to him, that one second that he could feel it all hanging in the air between them. Stretching endlessly, everything tipping forward or backward in that one moment. It was simply those words, him and her.

"Like a date?" She asked, breaking the moment, breaking the sphere of nerve wracking tension that had been building in his gut. How could so much nervousness build in that one second?

"Er…yeah."

"Yes." She grinned at him. He could feel shock and excitement course through him. He tried not to scream and pump his fist, instead giving her his trademark grin. "Uh…how about on Friday?"

"Yes." She repeated. She was blushing, happiness practically glowing from her body. She hoped she hadn't said it to quickly, hadn't seemed to eager. She could hardly speak she was so happy, and for a awful, horrid, terrible moment, she thought she would faint.

But she didn't.

"Seven…I'll…um…pick you up." He stuttered again. Why was this still difficult? She had said yes after all!

"Yes…I'll be ready." She felt stupid. Was that really all she could say? The silence became awkward. He rubbed his neck one last time and said "Later," He practically sprinted away.

She stood on the sidewalk, trying to figure out if this was all something she had just imagined. Neji's car pulled up. She still stood there staring at the sidewalk, trying to rethink of what she had said. "Get in," He snapped.

She obeyed. She was too happy to notice his moodiness.

**OoOoOoO**

**Ah, yes. Here it is. THE chapter. Please leave a review…**


	17. And So the Snow Fell Anyway

**Oh my. It has been…a very long time since I've updated. I am so sorry, between Christmas, New Years, a Trip and school, I haven't had a moment to write. Forgive me *Bows***

**Now then. I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. **

**OoOoOoO**

Hinata was bawling. Tears wouldn't stop pouring from her cheeks, her face was red and puffy. She sniffed, trying to get a hold of herself. It was a _movie _after all, nothing about it was real. She felt herself already red from embarrassment and the redness from the tears made her look like a lobster with black hair.

Nevermore, as fate would have it, had been the movie they decided to see. Hinata had been expecting horror. After all, it was based on Edgar Allen Poe's _The Raven_. It _should _be scary and terrifying. Her skin _should _be like ice after watching it.

As it turned out, it was more of a tragic love story. Nothing really that scary about it. Set in the Victorian Era, it had an ending similar to Romeo and Juliet's. Except incredibly more touching. She wiped tears from eyes, trying to suffocate the sadness.

"It's okay." Naruto patted her back. He didn't seem to feel awkward over the tears. He also didn't seem surprised.

"It could be worse," He said, trying to console her. "We could have watched a Holocaust movie. Then we would _both _be crying."

She gave a choked laugh, more at the fact that his comment was a rather ridiculous consolation then at the thought of him crying. The tears were beginning to go away now, the evidence that they were there as well.

"I'm sorry. This is all my fault." Naruto said, patting her on the back. "Gaara said that he thought you might want to see this movie, and you did _seem _to be excited about it but maybe that was just nervousness?"

_Gaara said I wanted to see it? He's either observant or a fiend._ Hinata thought, biting her lip so that Naruto couldn't see the hidden smile. They both got up to exit the theatre. Naruto offered his hand. She accepted it, walking out through the lobby. She saw a blue haired girl at the popcorn machine give a pleased smile at the sight of the two of them.

Did she know her? The girl looked familiar, but Hinata didn't think she was a friend. She shrugged and turned away. It didn't matter. The girl could have been pleased about dozens of things, not including Naruto and herself.

"I'm still a little confused on what that movie had to do with Edgar Allen Poe." Naruto muttered, feeling the wind blow some of his hair off of his forehead. The air was cold, but he hadn't brought a jacket or coat. Often when he was done with a movie, he felt hot and the chilliness was welcomed to cool him off.

"The Raven." Hinata informed him, giving him a sweet smile He looked at her blankly and wished that he could understand what she was saying. True, he had fallen asleep during most of their Poe unit in English but still…

"Um…" He gave her a sheepish smile. "Enlighten me." Hinata laughed, and gave him a look that for her was mischievous and for others was amusement.

"You fell asleep during the Poe unit, didn't you?" She accused, eyes still sparkling with laughter. He sighed with defeat. She made an excellent point. It was hard to understand the connection when he didn't know anything about the thing it originated from. Logic had once again defeated him, though one day he resolved to win.

His silence was answer enough, and Hinata laughed again. How could she not have laughed like this before? All of a sudden, life felt so wonderful, so mysterious yet amazing. She wanted to drink it all up.

It felt great to be alive!

**OoOoOoO**

Ino was asleep when suddenly she jolted awake. She didn't know what it was that woke her up but she could feel her heart pounding. She glanced at the clock. 12:54. Bleary eyed and a little disoriented she decided to use the bathroom.

She stopped when she saw them out her window. Snowflakes, giant, puffy, white and beautiful falling on the ground. She almost squealed. She hadn't seen snow since that year that she was…how old? Young she remembered. It hadn't snowed since then, and she could feel the excitement coursing through her veins.

What should she do? What if it melted by the time it was morning? Ino bit her lip with indecision. She had to go outside and see the snow. It was just to enchanting. On the other hand, if her parents caught her she would be so dead. They would think she was sneaking out. She would be grounded for life.

It hit her that she was probably the only one up this late. Well, not the only one. There were tons of night owls at school, but she doubted they were looking out the window. _They _needed to see the snow to. It was something for everyone.

Almost sprinting, Hinata flew back to her room. She unplugged her cell phone that was charging near her bed and furiously began to text. She would tell everyone on her contact list. Everyone! Everyone needed to know that it was snowing. Even Kimberly.

She scrolled down her contacts list when one name caught her by surprise. Sakura Haruno. Ino paused a moment. She wanted everyone to know but…was this really a good idea? They had hated each others guts for years, had lived to be against each other. What made her think now would be any different?

Because now she wasn't her rival. Now she didn't chase after Sasuke, now she had Sai. Things were different. Things had been twisted, misshapen. Could Sakura forgive her for being such a moron? It didn't matter. She added Sakura's name and sent the message.

Then, without thinking, she ran to her parents room. She shook her fathers shoulder, trying to wake him up. His eyes flew open and he jumped up with a roar. Her mother was also startled, jumped up as well.

"Mommy, daddy, its snowing outside!" She couldn't believe that she had just used the words "mommy" and "Daddy." She hadn't used those words…since she was five? Her father stared at her like she was an alien with five heads.

"It hasn't snowed in ages! Let me go outside, please?" She really did sound like a six year old.

"Go get your clothes on and grab a coat." Her father said, suddenly wide awake. He had an odd smile on his face, but she didn't question. She just raced to her room, grabbed some clothes and her coat and ran back to the living room. She sloppily tied her laces to her shoes.

Her father came down, fully dressed along with her mother. He motioned for Ino to follow him. They headed into the garage where he took the sleds and stuck them in the trunk of the car.

They drove to the giant hill near the park. Ino was the first to slide down it. She screamed with delight, as she flew off the sled and into a giant pile. The snow was piling up all over the ground, everywhere. It was so much…even more then the last time they had it.

And so, at 1:00 in the morning, Ino Yamanaka the most popular girl in school got to be a little girl again.

Just for one night.

**OoOoOoO**

Sakura Haruno stared blankly at the text. It was one in the morning, but her phone had roused her from her slumber. She stared at it rather unbelievingly, as if trying to understand what it was. A prank? A nasty slur? Surely, nothing ordinary.

Of course, if it was mockery, she could always mock back. It could easily be an honest mistake, one that they would look over later. Honestly, it had her attention. She could read it. Now that she was awake, it would be almost pointless not to.

**LOOK OUTSIDE! IT'S SNOWING!**

Blinking with surprise, Sakura raced to her window and threw back the curtain and unrolled the blinds. Ino's text was true. Snow was piled in her yard, and the flakes were still falling. Sakura caught her breath with the beauty of it.

And then the horror.

Snow. The last time it snowed she had made a snowman. She had went inside. And found Sasuke Uchiha's parents on the ground dead. Cherries splattered with blood. Murder, echoing around the walls. Sasuke, staring unbelievingly at the corpses.

Sakura had screamed.

She didn't think, even to this day, that he heard her. She wasn't sure if he was even conscious of his surrounding anymore. Thoughts slowly raced through her head. They were lagging, and drowsy. Dreamy.

_Call the police._

She almost did. She took three steps towards the phone…there was blood on it. She made a choked, strangled noise, and bolted.

She flew through the snow. She ran so fast that she thought she was flying. Her feet were cold, but she didn't care. Her fingers were numb but she didn't care. She was puffing for air, but again, she didn't care. What she did care about?

The two people dead. Sasuke's parents. And the police…she had to tell them…Sasuke would tell them. Right? Sasuke would tell them and they would come to her house and ask her questions. So it was okay if she didn't go to the police. The police would go to her, right?

She stopped running a moment, panting. Then she leaned over and puked. She was near the park. She felt dizzy, disoriented. She couldn't stop making small fearful noises. She puked again.

Then kept running.

She ran all the way to her home. She didn't even take her coat and mittens off. She just sat on the floor and cried. Her parents asked what was the matter. She gave them no answer. They were freaking out, they were worried.

She had seen a dog get run over, she told them. It was awful. It even yelped as it went under the tires. Then she cried some more.

It was enough for her parents. They fully believed that the worst thing that had just happened to their only daughter was the (Very traumatic for a young child) event of an animal getting hit by a car.

She lost sleep. Was she sure that that was all that was wrong? Her parents wanted to know. Surely by now she would have gotten over the dog incident. Should they take her to a psychologist? They had to keep it open for option.

No. She didn't need one, she explained to them. Soon, she just convinced herself that his parents had merely been sleeping. The blood was ketchup. They had been having hamburgers, she told herself, and then they went to sleep. Sasuke had such messy parents. _Her _parents would never leave ketchup everywhere.

The police found her. Asked questions. She broke. She spilled everything.

"They were sleeping though." She told them rather hysterically. "And the red stuff was ketchup. They were eating hamburgers, right?" She laughed. "Aren't his parents messy?"

They just stared down at her, pity written all over their faces. Why were they sorry for her? It was just _ketchup _there was nothing to be sad about. Maybe they had gotten it on some new furniture, she thought. Because after all, when the family cat had clawed the furniture her parents had been _very _angry.

She overheard them talking. "We would never have found her if the older brother hadn't insisted on it. His brother kept saying over and over 'An angel with pink hair was with me.' We were going to right it off as shock, but his the kid insisted so much that his brother thought that there had be something to it."

Her parents were upset. They cried and they fought, and everything was so different. She went to a child psychologist. Things got better. Time began to heal the wounds. Believe it or not, Sakura was even getting to the point where the details were sketchy. It was a vague albeit awful memory.

She had moved afterward, but then something even more awful happened. Sasuke moved to, and he came to her school. She was still little, and she was mortified. What would happen? She observed him from a distance. He had no idea that she was even there.

Her friend Ino watched him as well.

It was odd. She began to watch him, see the way he communicated with people (not very well) and watched his school life from a safe distance. She began to become drawn to him. It was more then the crush of a young girl. It wasn't love, certainly not, it was something else. Something deeper, perhaps, if that were possible. But they were connected, she knew, and it wasn't the kind of thing you could sever.

Of course, she couldn't possibly explain to Ino the connection. The way that she was there when he discovered his parents. She couldn't explain that it meant something. That there was something there.

They became rivals. For reasons so silly, they became rivals…

As she became a teen the connection changed. Sasuke began to fill out. He wasn't a little kid anymore, didn't suck on lollipops and there wasn't anymore recess. Things were different. The connection became a crush. She smothered it with her enthusiasm as a fan girl. But deep inside, she could still feel it. Deep inside she also knew that the crush was worthless and that the connection couldn't be thrown away so easily.

It was there to stay, perhaps all of her life.

**OoOoOoO**

Sasuke Uchiha could kill Ino. It was one in the morning. What was she thinking? She should, like all sensible people, be sleeping. And if she hadn't been, then well, by all means WAKE HIM UP! He grunted with irritation.

Then he read the text.

He slipped silently off the bed and peered out his window. She was right. Snow. That dreadful stuff. Cold and soggy and it made everything so complicated. Snowmen and angels, snowball fights, they were all incredibly stupid. He loathed snow. With passion.

He slipped back into bed, trying to convince himself that the snow wouldn't bother him at all and that he would be able to go right back to sleep. He couldn't. He tossed and turned and he was still unable to find it within him to close his eyes.

This was all the snows fault. Could it give him no peace? It was there the day his parents died. Itachi even moved them here so that the snow wouldn't fall. But here it was, piling up in heaps outside of his window. It just had to haunt him, didn't it?

Angrily he threw on some clothes and snuck out his window. The snow fell all around him.

"Here I am! You're the one haunting me! So go ahead! Mock me! I dare you!"

The snow didn't answer. It just kept falling softly to the ground. He hissed and grabbed some, flinging it at the fence. The snow made no move to fight back. It merely kept its course. Sasuke snarled and went out the gate. What was he doing? Who knew. He just wanted to get away. Time to clear his head.

**OoOoOoO**

***Phew* that was a hard chapter to write. And just what will happen when Sasuke goes outside? Hmm? I suppose you'll have to wait until the next chapter ;)**


	18. Regret

**Hello again! I am pleased to present yet another chapter in this long tale. The beginning is going to be a little confusing, but bear with me. I shall tell you how my characters got where they did.**

**OooOooO**

_"Every man dies - not every man really lives."_

_Oscar Wilde_

"Don't give me that! I know you're human, flesh and blood like the rest of us, so DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Sakura screamed as Sasuke, her anger searing red hot underneath her skin. He looked just as angry, for once showing the emotion that he didn't often show the people or his friends.

"Don't press me! I don't want to remember! I don't want to think about it! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO PUSH ME!"

"I'm not pushing you! You're pushing yourself! Away from everyone you know! It doesn't matter to you, as long as you can never get hurt again! You know what, Sasuke? You will always get hurt! It doesn't matter how far you alienate yourself from others, life will always find a way to hurt you!"

"I HATE YOU!" He screamed back. "I hate you for seeing me in such a vulnerable position! I hate you for knowing, for reminding me every day!"

"I hate you too! I hate you for dragging me into this mess, for making me see, for ruining my childhood! It was supposed to be for you! It sounds selfish and it sounds rude, but it was not a sight for me! If I could do it over again, I would stay inside that day!"

"It doesn't matter! Everyone dies! What are you scared of, huh? We all die in the end!"

She punched him, smack in the face, with all the strength she could muster. He gave a slight yell. She wanted to punch him more, longed for it really, but held herself back. Her self restraint shocked her. She had always been an impulsive child, and this new streak of discipline was rather disturbing.

"Hit me all you want. It wont change things."

"What a miserable life you lead." Sakura almost whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. "A pathetic, wretched life. The only person you can call friend is bitterness, and the only thing to keep you company is your anger. Love is estranged to you, loneliness replacing where it once was. And one day when you do die, you will find that they were not the companions you thought they were."

She had nothing more to say. Neither did he. She turned her back to walk away. The connection they shared was broken by harsh words said in the heat of anger.

_I hate you. And love you._

_But mostly I hate you._

**OooOooO**

Itachi Uchiha couldn't see anything. Just snippets of color and silhouettes here and there. It was confusing him, especially since his hearing had seemed to dull a little. It didn't hurt. Nothing hurt. In fact, he didn't even really feel anything. He was…numb? He didn't think that he should be. He didn't think that everything should be so tilted and helter-skelter. But it was.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

Who was repeating that? They needed to stop it. It was annoying. He didn't want it to be the last thing he heard as he was dying. Was that what he was doing? Dying? But how?

Visions of a car flashed through his mind, of a drunk driver and bunch of teenagers. All buzzed or drunk, all not watching where they were going. And now he was paying their price? Well that was typical. It seemed that the world just worked that way sometimes.

But seriously, the last thing he wanted to hear was their panic. No, if he had a choice, it would be Sasuke telling him that he meant a lot to him, that he loved his big brother. Had he been able, he would have laughed.

Here he was dying, and still holding on to the same pathetic wish.

**OooOooO**

She stared out the window. Wondering. It was odd, perhaps a bit unreal. But it all seemed so cold and desolate out there, so unforgiving and harsh. It was what made winter seem so forbidding to her, the way it gave her chills and spread its frosty poison over the bodies of humans. It was all rather frustrating, that she couldn't figure out why she wasn't a large fan of winter.

The snow, if perhaps was given a hint of lilac coloring, could be painfully similar to the eyes she had only seen once. They had been so…enchanting. Yet so unreal. Like the snow out her window, enticing the children to come play in it.

Tenten heaved a great sigh. Thinking like this was as good as giving into her mood swings. The snow particularly reminded her of the eyes of Neji Hyuuga, the boy with all the funny quirks that she found so amusing.

Why had it been so hard to let him go? Why had it hurt so much? Of course she knew the reason, but didn't want to think it. Thinking it was as good as saying it, as good as living it. Living it would end up in longing for it, and she would be in an even worse position. So she simply didn't think about him.

Easier said then done.

Much easier.

Everything it seemed had something to do with Neji. Everything had some little spark that led to some little though that reminded her of some thing that ended up to Neji. It wasn't fair. Her tooth brush shouldn't be causing her so much pain. Her jelly beans. Her stuffed bear.

But it all did anyway. Oh what a pain in the butt hormones were.

She stopped staring morosely out her window and glanced down the hallway at her parents room. Her father was still sleeping off his drunkenness. That's going to hurt in the morning. She thought to herself, with a little more happiness then she should have.

Forgive me for not being a daddy's girl.

Loving her father was not something that came easily. It wasn't something that came at all.

She had read books where the daughter would love the father, even though he did awful things like leave them most of the time, drink, abuse them. They always, it seemed found it in their hearts to forgive him and to stay with him. Not Tenten. She had at first thought that she was a monster for not feeling the same. When she was in Middle School and it dawned on her that she wouldn't give a crap if her father died, she had thought she was wicked.

Now she merely saw logic.

Daddy dear, I only stay around you for one purpose…and affection isn't it.

Again, selfish thoughts that she didn't feel the need to be apologetic for having. Perhaps maybe one day, when she was older and more wise and forgiving. At the moment, nothing had changed. Mom was still gone, her father was still worthless, and she was still alone.

How had it come to this? How did happy families become this way? A simple question with a not so simple answer. The one for her family was merely this: Money. Her father was incredibly rich. This was the only reason her mother had married him. Tenten had been an accident. The money was barred from the family (her father had suspected) and until Tenten turned eighteen she could have no part of it. Plus, she had to stay with dad.

Maybe if he had been a good father and stuck by her, maybe if he had still been the dad she wanted. But he wasn't. He was a drunk. He was worthless. He was the cash you had to wait patiently for.

He was the reason she rejected Neji.

**OooOooO**

"Um, I don't think that looks anything like a fox." Hinata said through giggles. Naruto squinted and turned his drawing upside down and then a little bit to the side. He then gave his trademark grin. "_Now_ it looks like a fox."

Hinata laughed and punched his shoulder lightly. "I think _now_ it looks like an orange kangaroo. On drugs."

Naruto clutched his chest dramatically. "That hurts! Deep on the inside that stings!" He added gasping noises and flailed on the floor like a fish. "Hinata…" He choked. "You have killed me…" And with one last gasp, his eyes fluttered shut.

Although she was laughing, Hinata felt a pang go through her. Of course dying probably wasn't like that at all. But the image of Naruto laying quietly on the floor making no noise felt all to real, all to close. She felt a little dizzy, at the image of him in a coffin, eyes shut.

"Alright, alright, It looks like a fox." She laughed, playing along to his game and pretending that the disturbing thoughts inside of her hadn't surfaced. Upon hearing her words he immediately leapt up.

"I liveth! My lady hath brought me back to life!"

"Oh, good Sir Naruto, I was scared that thou had fallen." Hinata role played with him, flinging a hand over her head like something she imagined Juliet had done before killing herself with a dagger. She envisioned it as desperate and relieved.

"Nay, fair maiden. Merely resting my eyes, dreaming of the thy fair beauty."

"Thou dost flatter me." It was hard not to let a giggle slip.

"Come! Tarry no more in this place! Ride with me…thither." He stumbled over the last part, but pretended to mount a steed. Laughing Hinata "jumped" on the steed with him. He gave a fake shout and pretended to whip the horse into a gallop.

Suddenly, a voice came from near them. "What are you to doing?"

Hinata stared rather shocked at Neji, who was staring at them with an equally dumbfounded expression. There was a tense and awkward moment of silence before Naruto, without missing a beat, screamed "My lady and I doth ride into the sunset!"

Neji continued to stare open mouthed, seemingly even more confused by Naruto's answer.

"Forgive me, good Sir," Hinata said, giving Neji a deep curtsy. "My Lord oft gets carried away with himself." Naruto gave a fake sob. "See how my love whips me with her words! Oh, how shall I bear it?"

"Idiots…" Neji murmured almost to himself, but loud enough for them to hear. "You two are a bunch of morons…" But there was an amusement in his voice that he couldn't hide.

"Who is this villain that he slanders us with his wagging tongue?" Naruto bellowed, trying to sound indignant. "I shall cut out his heart!" He gave a cry of anger.

"Nay! Violence shall be the end of you!" Wailed Hinata, falling to her knee's, head tilted to the sky. "Do not fight, love! The Fate's laugh at my torment!" She fell to the floor weeping as loud as possible.

"To the death!" Naruto shouted, lunging toward Neji. Neji watched them a moment longer, gave one more mutter of "morons" and proceeded to go back upstairs. Once he was up the stairs, he gave them one last glance, before heading to his room.

Naruto and Hinata exchanged glances. "I don't think he appreciated our performance." Naruto mused, staring up at the stairs where Neji had disappeared. Hinata smiled. "Art is lost upon him. Our efforts are wasted."

Tired from their antics, they sat on the couch and turned on the TV. It was set to the news channel and before Hinata could change it, something caught her attention. She gasped quietly, staring at it. Her breath felt funny.

"Naruto…" She whispered. "Isn't that Sasuke's brother?"

**OooOooO**

Sasuke stared at the Doctor. The man was thin, with glasses that would tip forward every so often, and he would have to shove them back up his nose. He had a soothing voice, Sasuke supposed in this line of work was needed.

Like now.

"The next twenty four hours are critical."

How cliché, he thought, trying not to cry. That sounded like something that you heard on TV or movies. He hadn't been aware that Doctors used such terms. Were the hours even critical? Or was it just something said to people to make the parting easier.

"We're doing all that we can."

Of course you are. You're getting paid.

The doctor patted Sasuke's shoulder before leaving. Sasuke watched him leave and stared at his shoes. Dumb. Stupid. Idiotic. Moron. These all described him so perfectly.

It took people dying to realize that he was sorry.

**OooOooO**

**Please Leave A review.**


	19. The Blurred Picture

**Now, in case any of you haven't looked at my profile, the reason my updates have been few and far between is because I've been **_**really **_**busy. It's hard to keep up, let alone have time to write! Please bare with me and be patient until I'm less busy!**

**Ahem. A word. This hasn't been a big deal, but I just thought I should mention that maybe to some this wouldn't seem like an appropriate picture of high school as there is no drugs, alcohol, parties, swearing, sex etc. This is rated K+ and there is a reason for that. I like clean things, and so I write clean.**

**I do not own Naruto. Or **_**Pride and Prejudice.**_

**OooOooO**

Up and down. That was a good thing, he guessed. Flat meant dead, but up and down meant his heart was beating. Alive. A good thing. Alive, but unable to hear Sasuke ask for forgiveness, his ears impaired to the begging of one last chance. Itachi's eyes just remained closed, his chest just raised feebly up and down.

Up and down went the monitor, or whatever it was.

Itachi wasn't answering him. Maybe never. Did people in coma's hear you? Some believed that, but there was no way to know right? Sasuke swallowed. Hard.

"Itachi?" He whispered, chin on the bed. He watched the chest struggle to breathe. Heard the raspy and struggling breath.

"I'm back. Again. I guess I feel like if I keep talking than you'll hear me, or wake up, or I'll somehow know that you'll forgive me. I - I know that I've been a real jerk. But you…you were just never there and I was so alone and bitter. I didn't know what to do…there were so many odd people and you were so vague at who these people were and I thought…that maybe you had something to do with mom and dad's…"

Tears began to fall. He wiped them away harshly, angry that they were showing. He hadn't cried in a long time. It wasn't time to start. He could cry if Itachi died. If he was in a coffin and wasn't breathing. But while he still lived the tears were forbidden.

"I am so sorry. Please…don't leave me alone. Please forgive me."

**OooOooO**

Sakura was almost done packing. She took a deep breath, and glanced down the hall. Her mother was on the phone, her father turning into her room.

"You sure you want to do this? Your mother and I will miss you." He put a reassuring hand on her back.

"It's fine. It's only for the rest of the school year, which is only a few months. I'll come back again in the summer. Aunt Leah is totally cool too." She gave her father a firm nod. "You'll see me soon!"

"I know. But I'll still miss you. But if the school is better, than your mother and I are one hundred percent supportive." He flashed a grin.

_Right. _Sakura thought to herself guiltily. She had told her parents that she had wanted to go to Aunt Leah's because the school district was better, but it was such a lie. She felt horrible, but there was no way to explain to them. Sasuke was a bad memory that choked her freedom. She couldn't see him anymore. They had said harsh goodbye's and she was leaving it at that.

"Well, if you're sure." Her father replied, leaving the room. She heard herself whisper as he left "It's the only way."

**OooOooO**

"Neji, I know I told you that I wasn't going to mention that girl from student council, but I just feel like you two would make such a good pair -" Neji cut Lee off. "I told you. I'm not interested in dating _anyone_."

He was starting to get a splitting headache. Tenten, whether he liked it or not, was always on his mind. The last thing he needed was another girl to complicate. She was enough. _Had been _enough. It wouldn't have worked out anyway. Or so he told himself.

"Neji, high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life. Date someone before the four years are gone."

"I don't think that's really a good reason to date someone, Lee. And besides that, high school is merely my way in to college, which is paving my way into being successful." He switched his phone to the other ear.

"But you can have _some _fun."

"I do."

"When?"

"Just last week I attended a Science Olympiad meeting. It was very satisfying."

"That is definitely not what I meant by fun."

Neji almost smiled. He and Lee were more similar than Lee would like to think. Indeed, Lee's idea of fun probably involved a museum.

"I just want you to loosen up a little. Just meet the girl." Lee sounded almost desperate. Neji felt a little stab of guilt. He could meet the girl, but it wouldn't do him any good. If she had brown eyes he would be reminded of her, and if her eyes were some other color he would want them to be brown. If her smile was infectious than he would feel nauseous at the similarity, and if there was no smile like that then he would be disappointed.

In short, what he wanted was unattainable.

"No, Lee." He whispered quietly into the phone. "There isn't a single girl you have that I will like."

**OooOooO**

"I find that appalling."

"How could you?"

"Pineapple milkshake? Gross." Hinata stared at it, a small disgusted look on her face.

"Pineapple milk shake equals bliss. You haven't even tried it." Naruto quipped back, slurping the yellow ice cream through the straw. Hinata regarded it skeptically, before taking a giant gulp of her own vanilla. A favorite, classic, what some would call boring and what she would call a masterpiece. Vanilla flavoring was used in almost every treat. Could chocolate say the same? She thought not.

But Pineapple?

"I can't imagine what that tastes like. I'm not sure I want too." She slurped more vanilla.

"So quick not to try exotic new things. You've probably never had a mango."

"I had a mango Snapple once."

"Doesn't count." He gave his infectious grin. It seemed that Naruto was always smiling, but they meant different things. One smile meant happiness, another joy, yet another to cover up a sorrowful emotion, and another to hide his pain. All put together on one face that wouldn't stop smiling.

"Have a sip." He handed her his cup. She hesitated, then slowly took a sip. It was…different. Fruity to the point that made her mouth produce water, and yet sweet. She handed it back.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" She asked, innocently blinking her eyes at him.

"Ah. Being coy is not going to work here. I know when you're truly shy and when you're faking." He winked.

"I know not of what you speak." She replied, flipping her hair as she turned away. "But if you refer to the taste of the milkshake…then I have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought."

"Is that the smell of defeat I detect?" He asked, trying to provoke her.

"However it most certainly isn't _good_." She added, merely for the sake of his last comment. Naruto was one of the few people in which she could spar with her words. With others she felt impolite and rude, with him it was simply a matter of fun.

"Spiteful."

"Provocative."

"But I admit it."

"You can't find a single person to back up your "spiteful" remark, now is there?" There was a pause in which she couldn't help but add "Is that the smell of defeat I detect?"

"Alright. You won that one." A war of wits wasn't one that he could win easily. He remembered vaguely that her favorite book was _Pride and Prejudice _since they were reading it in English. She had called it "witty." The only thing he remembered from it was the line "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

"You know I did." She offered him a sip of her vanilla, which he rejected. "It wont go down well with the pineapple."

"Did you hear about Sakura?" She asked in a more serious tone. She brought the question out of the blue, surprising him a little. It wasn't like her to stray so far off a topic at hand.

"Yeah. I'm gonna miss her."

"Me too." Hinata stared at the floor. "She was the person to make me feel worth something."

Naruto wasn't very good at feeling sentimental emotions, as gushy and mushy stuff made him feel awkward. Even at movies if there was a romantic scene that was a little too gooey he would uncomfortably. Perhaps it was never really feeling such an open love as a child that brought these odd emotions on. He felt compelled to help Hinata, but he wanted to sound sincere and not as if he came from a greeting card.

"But you two are different now. You can stand up on your own…and Sakura…Sakura needs her space, I think."

Hinata had always sort of marveled at the way Naruto could unconsciously pick up human emotions so easily. Temari had said once that he was too full of empathy, and that he could understand the pain in another person all too well.

"I know. But I'll still miss her."

"You'd have gone your separate ways eventually." He reminded her gently. Hinata's throat got a lump when he said that. He didn't know it, but she thought of the separate ways he and she might take. Life and Death?

**OooOooO**

Hana stared up at her Aunt through the warm quilt that she had been tucked into. The time on the clock next to her bed read 10:33. Hinata looked at it and nodded to herself. She handed Hana a glass of water.

"Let's stop there for tonight."

Hana remembered her promise to keep things under control, but she wanted to hear the end so badly. She tried not to sound whiny as she asked "Maybe just a little more?"

"It's late. I doubt you've ever stayed this late in your life." Hinata gave her a gentle, but firm smile.

"I have, I have! This year, I went to bed at twelve. I was at Alyssa's Princess Birthday Party." She quieted, remembering said event. It had been her first sleep over, and the most fun affair in her life. Alyssa, who was one of her best friends, had a sleep over for her birthday. A Disney Princess Sleep over. The cake looked like a castle, and there was face painting and they got to make crowns and Hana had gotten to bring her Mulan sleeping bag. Although she was thrilled, a little part of her had been envious. Her mother couldn't afford to have such an extravagant party, and it always seemed like Alyssa got whatever she pleased.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Hinata replied "That sounds like fun. But I'm afraid that this isn't a birthday party. I'll continue tomorrow, over pancakes." She kissed the top of Hana's head and shut the door.

As Hana drifted to sleep, she wondered if maybe the picture she saw in the kitchen, who was blurry and the colors mixed in, was Naruto?

**OooOooO**

Unbeknownst to Hana, Hinata too, stared at the picture in the kitchen. You couldn't see the face nor really the picture at all.

It reminded her of a time, where a seventeen year old her held it as she traced the lines of a familiar face, the same face that was being blurred by her teardrops.

**OooOooO**

**Please leave a review :)**


	20. Walk Down Memory Lane

**I do not own Naruto. It's been waaaay too long since I've updated, sorry guys! By the way, I hope I dont offend to many people by saying this but some might get the wrong impression in this chapter about Sasuke and Itachi. They say "I love you" out of brotherly love. Not Brother incest. **

**OooOooO**

Naruto could feel the pain. It came again, a roaring monster that wished to remind him just what he was: Disposable. Similar to a tissue, he would be used then thrown away, another human (or tissue) appearing to take it's place. He was nothing more then a wisp, and he had forgotten that. A vapor in life that would soon fizzle out.

This pain was a reminder.

It was a reminder that he didn't have forever. It was a reminder that it was unfair to people - to his friends - to Hinata especially. His impression had always been that if one died at a young age, you were usually forgotten. And there weren't many people to really remember Naruto. Even Iruka was nothing more then a temporary stop here on earth.

Nothing was permanent. He once had Nothing to lose. But now…now…with this fresh reminder he suddenly felt like he _did _have something to lose. He had friends he would lose. A girlfriend. Life. It was precious. One needed to use it, while they could.

Precious.

The world was fading…

Life was precious.

**OooOooO**

Itachi Uchiha was walking. Through his memories. It was an odd feeling, scary and terrifying. His first memory was of when Sasuke was born. The baby had no hair, closed eyes, a red face. But the only thing Itachi could think of was the ears. Perhaps it was because he was a child but his first words to his little brother happened to be "He has ears!"

His mother laughed good naturedly and his father gave a slight smile. This shocked Itachi, mostly because his father's face had always seemed like stone. A set firm line, watchful eyes, a commanding and noble look. Smiles weren't a part of his stoic mask, not part of his person at all.

"He's perfect." Itachi whispered just loud enough for his family to hear. His mother smiled again and stroked the head of the baby. His father frowned.

"We'll see. Hopefully he'll have the genius of his older brother."

"Fugaku!" Itachi's mother protested, shooting her husband a look. "He's a baby! And I'm sure he'll be perfect just the way he is." She said the most of it for his fathers benefit, Itachi could tell. But still, even though the words were supposed to be in praise for him they made him feel terrible inside. He looked at the baby and imagined what life would be like if his father continued to compare the two siblings. Something cold rattled in his chest making a heavy sickness fill his heart with ice.

"I'll always be there for you." Itachi whispered, a promise for only the ears of the new baby. Sasuke's hand came up and his fingers curled around Itachi's.

The next memory was of when Sasuke was just entering pre-school. No longer bald and now speaking, Sasuke had started developing a personality of his own. He looked up to his big brother, something that secretly pleased Itachi immensely. They were sitting at the breakfast table, eating biscuits and gravy.

"Daddy, daddy! I learned all my letters!" Sasuke shrieked, happily informing his father. Fugaku frowned down at him.

"You're a little late aren't you?"

Another memory came, one of Sasuke in his room, crying. Itachi peered into his bedroom, hurting. He knew exactly why little bro was crying, and it was because of him. He felt the cold thing rattle in his chest again, causing a dreadful disturbance.

"Hey," He said, knocking on the door. "Go away!" Sasuke almost yelled, and maybe it might have been if not for the sound of crying choking the harshness away. Itachi felt tears pool in his own eyes but shook them away.

"Dad didn't mean it, really. He was just angry. Look, please Sasuke, let me in." The door opened and his brother appeared, eyes a little red and puffy but all other evidence of tears erased. Itachi swallowed, not knowing what to say. Encouragement and words spoken flippantly would sound empty and hollow. It had to come from the heart.

"I'm sorry for what he said. You must really hate me, and in truth no one could blame you. But Sasuke, I love you. Okay? You're my brother and I'm always going to be there for you, whether or not I'm wanted. If I'm a log for you to overcome then so be it, as long as it makes you stronger. If I have to be knocked over by your own hands in order for you to be strong then I'll make it happen. Can you understand that Sasuke?"

Whether or not he did, Sasuke didn't show. He seemed to realize, however, that these were not words that were spoken in flattery but rather in truth. Forgiveness replaced his look of anger.

Another memory came. One that haunted him day and night afterwards. A man with a dark suit who would appear at the house often, seemingly watching it. Finally Itachi approached him, without his parents knowledge.

The words revealed a hurt, a deep and gaping wound. His father was not the man he said he was, not the man Itachi knew him as. His father was a dangerous man, a man that didn't always speak the truth. His once noble face was now cruel in Itachi's still young eyes.

Could the man trust Itachi?

He could.

They needed to arrest his father. It was the right thing to do. Could Itachi keep them informed as to when his father would be alone, as to his weakness? He could. Could he keep this secret from his own family? He could. Could he keep his little brother and his mother away? He tried.

Nobody was supposed to die. But the stubborn fool resisted.

Mama was dead.

Sasuke saw.

How did Sasuke know that Itachi was partly to blame? Something deep within him perhaps? A sixth sense that alerted him to guilt on Itachi's part. It hardly mattered, because somewhere deep within a seed of hatred sprouted and Sasuke could do nothing but water it. Soon the thing bloomed and became a lush forest.

Another memory, a recent one. Sasuke, standing in defiance with eyes that burned. He had become a raging fire and there was nothing Itachi could do to put him out. He was merely kerosene in this situation, a flammable gas ready for explosion.

Sasuke threw the vase and Itachi had enough agility to duck just in time. It shattered behind him, and he could see the fire burning even more bright in those eyes, angered that the object had missed its mark.

"I hope you die!" He yelled. His voice held so much frustration, so much feeling that there was no doubt in Itachi's mind that these were not empty words of hate but of ones that came from the heart.

He couldn't help but flinch and exit promptly, scared that he might cry. He ground his teeth and remembered a bald baby, eyes shut, innocently sleeping and himself.

_I'll always be there for you._

Even if he was a log, a hated log that would be consumed by a fire of fury.

**OooOooO**

He felt ridiculous. Never in his life had Sasuke felt so ridiculous as when Itachi woke up to find him crying. It was an overall humiliating and personal thing. He felt vulnerable and open, a bunny in the eye of a hawk.

His brother stared at him a moment before asking "Are you crying because I woke up?" There was a frailty in his voice that Sasuke had never heard before. It might have come from almost dying, it might have been there all along.

In response Sasuke could only give a half sob half laugh that made him sound like a maniac. It neither confirmed nor denied Itachi's question which seemed to only confuse his poor brother more.

"Itachi…" The words were having trouble coming out. His brother was so small now, so weak in this moment. "I - I - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way that I treated you, I was wrong. I didn't understand - I still don't understand - my anger I had." He coughed, feeling awkward and sentimental. "You aren't a log for me to jump over. You're my brother, you're the log that raises me up to new heights. I just want you to know that as your brother I love you and I'm sorry for being a jerk."

Just like that, a fire put out.

**OooOooO**

**That's it for this chapter. Short, I know, but it was starting to get to me. I feel like I'm writing a soap opera. Hopefully my future chapters wont be quite so…dramatic? Anywhoo please leave a review! And just one last little thing: Itachi's last memory actually comes from chapter seven! I bet none of you remembered that!**


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